THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT; 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  TO-DAY.' 


THE      HISTORY,      PURPOSE      AND 
POSSIBILITIES  OF  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS 
IN    EUROPE    AND    AMERICA;     GUILDS,    TRADES- 
UNIONS,  AND  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR;  WAGES  AND  PROFITS; 
HOURS  OF  LABOR;    FUNCTIONS  OF  CAPITAL;    CHINESE  LABOR: 
COMPETITION;      ARBITRATION;      PROFIT-SHARING     AND 
CO-OPERATION;  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF 
LABOR;    MORAL  AND   EDUCATIONAL  AS- 
PECTS OF  THE  LABOR  QUESTION. 


EDITED  BY 

GEORGE   E.    McNEILL, 

First  Deputy  of  Mass.  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor ;    Scc.-Treas.  of 
D.  A.  jo,  Knights  of  Labor. 


ASSOCIATE  AUTHORS: 

TERENCE  V.  POWDERLY, 

G.  M.  W.,  K.  of  L. ;  DR.  EDMUXD  J. 

JAMES,  University  of  Pennsylvania;  HON.  JOHN 

J.  O'NEILL,  of  Missouri;  HON.  J.  M.  FARQUHAR,  of  New 

York;  HON.  ROBERT  HO  WARD,  of  Massachusetts;  HENRV  GEORGE, 

of  New  York ;  ADOLPH  STRASSER,  Pres.  Cigar  Makers'  Union ;  JOHN  JARRETT, 

of  Pennsylvania;    REV.   R.   HEBER   NEWTON,   of  New   York;    F     K.  FOSTER,   of 

Massachusetts;     P.    M.    ARTHUR,    Chief    Engineer    Locomotive    Brotherhood; 

W.  W.  STONE  and  W.  W.  MORROW,  of  California;  FRANKLIN  H. 

GIDDINGS,  "Sprinyfield  Union";  JOHN  McBRIDE,  Secretary 

Coal  Miners' Union;  D.J.O'DONOGHUE,  of  Toronto, 

Canada;    P.  J.   McGUIRE,   Secretary 

Carpenters'  Brotherhood,  Ohio. 


NEW  YORK  : 
THE  M.  W.  HAZEN  CO. 


1887. 


Copyright  1886,  by 
A    M.  RRIDGMAN  &  CO. 


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OP  WM.  M.  H  AI.STKP,  8   SPRUCE   STREBT,  NKW  YORK. 


COMPOSITION  AND  ELKCTRorvrtNo 

BY    THE 

Co-or*XATiv«  PRINTINO  AND  PVIU.ISMINO  Co, 
aj,  27  and  39  HEATH  STREET,  BOSTON. 


PREFACE 


THE  worker,  the  thinker,  the  student,  the  statesman  and 
the  capitalist  are  all  forced,  by  the  pressure  of  events,  to 
consider  the  Labor  Movement  and  the  Labor  Problem.  All 
are  witnesses  of  the  power  of  combination  for  good  or  evil. 
All  may  know  that  systems  of  industry  change  by  slow,  evolv- 
ing processes,  and  that  these  processes  of  growth  culminate 
in  crises  of  mighty  import.  The  capitalist,  seeking  profit  or 
gain,  and  the  worker,  seeking  better  and  easier  condition, 
mav  work  as  partners,  with  common  interests,  or  wage  unre- 
lenting war  for  the  mastery.  That  the  victory  will  come  to 
the  side  of  justice  and  equity,  is  the  certain  prophecy  of 
history. 

This  book  is  an  attempt  to  contribute  something  to  the 
peaceful  solution  of  the  Labor  problem.  The  history  of  the 
Labor  Movement  is  the  history  of  civilization.  It  has  mani- 
fested itself  in  all  times  and  under  all  conditions  of  life.  The 
eternal  query  of  life  is,  How  to  obtain  comfort?  The  prayer, 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  is  uttered  by  Pagan  and 
Christian  alike ;  and  this  demand  for  sustenance  is  supple- 
mented by  the  hope  for  equity.  So  long  as  outward  evidences 
of  aggregate  prosperity  are  present,  we  are  apt  to  forget  or 
neglect  to  know  the  conditions  of  some  of  those  who  con- 
tribute to  the  results.  In  Europe,  the  frequent  and  almost 
continuous  periods  of  distress  have  compelled  attention ; 
and  philanthropist,  statesman  and  student  have  done  much, 
especially  in  England  and  France,  to  provide  a  literature 
covering  almost  every  phase  of  the  movement.  Dr.  Edmund 
J.  James,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  has  so  admir- 
ably condensed  that  history  in  his  three  chapters  of  this  book, 
as  to  need  no  editorial  comment.  In  this  countrv,  the  extent 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  our  territory,  the  variety  of  our  pursuits,  and  the  form  of 
government  have  tended  to  lead  us  to  overlook  and  under- 
estimate the  importance  of  the  Labor  movement.  It  is  only 
when  .some  great  strike  has  checked  the  wheels  of  material 
progress  that  our  business-crazed  community  has  stopped  to 
think.  We  claim  for  our  work  an  earnestness  of  purpose  to 
find  the  causes,  to  trace  the  movement,  and  to  point  out  some 
of  the  measures  that  will  culminate  in  a  Republic  of  Labor. 
The  history  that  we  present  is  the  compilation  of  such  facts  as 
could  be  gathered  from  records  of  labor  organizations,  news- 
papers and  pamphlets,  and  from  the  varied  experiences  of  a 
large  number  of  thinking  men  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  growth  of  the  national  and  international  labor-unions, 
trades-assemblies,  central-trades  and  labor-unions  and  trades- 
congresses,  have  furnished  much  of  the  more  recent  history. 
These  efforts  to  unite  the  men  of  all  trades  under  one  central 
body  have  been  supplemented  by  the  most  wonderful  organi- 
zation of  modern  times,  —  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Its  history 
is  largely  secret,  and  we  are  permitted  to  present  only  that 
part  of  its  work  which  is  open  to  public  view.  Its  declara- 
tion of  principles  is  a  bill  of  grievances  and  a  platform  of 
measures,  as  broad  as  human  hopes  and  desires,  and  it  is 
built  in  symmetry  of  proportion,  like  the  pyramid,  to  remain 
an  enduring  monument  of  human  intelligence  and  human 
effort. 

In  this  volume,  we  have  stated  the  laborers'  side  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  and,  while  making  no  claim  for  a  scientific  presentation 
of  the  whole  question,  we  have  presented  what  will  be  provo- 
cative, we  trust,  of  a  deeper  investigation,  and  a  more  thorough 
appreciation  of  the  relation  of  man  to  man,  regardless  of  con- 
ditions, or  opportunities  of  immediate  gain, — believing  that 
the  security  of  all  that  is  good  is  achieved  when  all  are 
participators  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  opportunities  of 
civilization. 

The  chapters  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  various  organi- 
zations of  labor  were  compiled  from  information  received 
from  their  accredited  officers.  The  history  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  was  mainly  furnished  by  the  six  surviving  founders  of 


PREFACE.  v 

the  Order.  To  all  who  have  in  any  way  assisted  us  in  this 
work,  we  tender  our  grateful  acknowledgments,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  North  American  Review,  for  granting  us  the 
privilege  of  republishing  Mr.  Powderly's  article,  "  The  Army 
of  the  Unemployed." 

In  addition  to  those  who  contributed,  and  whose  names 
appear  on  the  title-page,  it  is  the  pleasurable  duty  of  the 
Editor  to  here  express  his  thanks  for  valuable  contributions, 
to  Thomas  B.  Barry,  member  of  General  Executive  Board 
K.  of  L.  ;  Josiah  B.  Dyer,  Secretary  Granite  Cutters'  Na- 
tional Union ;  George  C.  Block,  Secretary  Journeymen 
Bakers'  National  Union  ;  Joseph  Wilkinson,  Secretary  •Jour- 
neymen Tailors'  Association;  Thomas  O'Dea,  Secretary 
Bricklayers'  and  Masons' International  Union;  H.  Emrich, 
Secretary  International  Furniture  Workers'  Union ;  J.  T. 
Elliott,  Secretary  Brotherhood  of  Painters;  W.  S.  Higbie< 
Secretary  National  Silk  and  Fur  Hat  Finishers'  Associa- 
tion ;  T.  J.  Curran,  President  Boiler  Makers'  and  Helpers' 
Protective  and  Benevolent  Union ;  H.  H.  Lane,  Secretary 
National  Wood  Carvers'  Union ;  Archibald  M.  Taylor,  Na- 
tional Secretary  of  United  States  Wool  Hat  Finishers'  Asso- 
ciation ;  Joseph  Dean,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  New 
York  Stereotypers'  Union ;  Louis  Arrington,  Manager  of 
Improved  Druggists'  Ware  Glass  Blowers'  League  ;  E.  F. 
O'Shea,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  Brotherhood  of  Railroad 
Brakemen ;  E.  V.  Debs,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  Brother- 
hood of  Locomotive  Firemen  ;  James  B.  Graham,  of  New 
York  ;  Joseph  R.  Buchanan,  Denver,  Col.  ;  Henry  J.  Skef- 
fington,  Philadelphia.  Pa.;  Dr.  S.  S.  Robie  and  E.  H. 
Rogers,  of  Boston.  THE  EDITOR. 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS. 


PAGE. 

CKI  \ir  S.  STEPHENS,  Founder  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  (frontispiece). 
TKRKNVI:  V.  I 'ONVOERLY,  General  Master  Workman           ....       20 
GEORGE  E.  MCNEILL,  the  Editor 70 

GENERAL   EXECUTIVE   BOARD,    KNIGHTS   OF   LABOR. 
FREDERICK  TCRM-.K,  1 

TIIOM  \s  B.  BARRY, 
JOHN   \\".    1 1  \vi  v. 
\VII.I.IAM   II.    HAII.I.V. 
RICHARD  GRIFFITHS, 

LEADERS   OF  THE   KNIGHTS. 
RKII\RD  F.  TREVELLICK,        ] 
ALBERT  A.  CARLTON. 

CHARLES  II.  LITCH.MAN,  495 

J.   R.  Brrii\\A\. 
ISAAC    CLINT. 

NEW   YORK   LABOR   LEADERS. 
1  II.NRY  GEORGT. 
JOHN   SWINTON, 

^  \MIKI.    (JoMI'KRS,  .  370 

JOHN   M.   FARqi'HAR, 
I  \MI;S  B.  GRAHAM, 

NEW   ENGLAND   LEADERS. 
ROHKKT  HOWARD, 
FK \NK  K.   FOSTER, 


FKANK 

WILLIAM  L.  DoroLAS, 

J.  J.  O'KEEFE, 

TRADES-UNION   LEADERS. 
PETER  M.  ARTHUR, 
JOHN  JARRETT, 
ADOLPH  STRASSER, 
JOSIAH  DYER, 
JOSEPH  WILKINSON, 


216 


320 


GENERAL,   ILLUSTRATIONS. 
TRADES-UNION  LEADERS. 


P.  J.  McGuiRE, 

JoiI.V  J.    McBRIDE, 

EDWARD  L.  DAILEY, 
WILLIAM  WEIHE, 
D.  J.  O'DoxoGiu  i •-., 


P.U.K. 


2SS 


NATIONAL   LEGISLATORS. 


JOHN  J.  O'NEILL, 
MARTIN  B.  FORAN, 
JAMES  B.  WEAVER, 
WILLIAM  H.   GRAIN, 
FRANK  LAWLER, 
T.  E.  TARSNEY, 
HENRY  B.  LOVERING, 


180 


DENNIS  GUNN, 
II.  EMRICH, 
W.   S.  HIGBIE, 
GEORGE  G.  BLOCK, 
THOMAS  O'DEA, 


TRADES-UNION   LEADERS. 

1 


477 


W.  W.   STONE, 
CALVIN  EWING, 
JAMES  H.  BARRY, 
JAMES  G.  McGuiRE, 
PATRICK  REDDY, 


CALIFORNIA   LEADERS. 

1 


437 


GENERAL  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE  MECHANICS'  BELL     .         .         . 
HOMES  OF  THE  COAL-MINERS 
THE  VETERAN  CORPS,  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  . 
FOUNDERS  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR 
JOSIAH  WARREN'S  SCHEME  OF  MONEY   . 


•  134 
245 

535-SSO 
400 

•  73 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

PR  K  FACE "' 

LIST  01    PORTRAITS vl 

(HMKM.  ILLUSTRATIONS vii 

CHAPTER     I. THE    RISE    OK    THE    MODERX    LABORER Page          I 

BY  DR.  EDMUND  J.  JAMES. 

CHAPTER     II.— HISTORY    OF    MECHANICAL    LABOR Page       21 

BY  DK.  EDMUND  J.  JAMES. 

C I  I.  \PTER     III. RECENT    LABOR    LEGISLATION Page       45 

BY  DR.  EDMUND  J.  JAMES. 

CHAPTER     IV. THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT    IN    AMERICA    TO    l86l        .    Page       67 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER  V. — PROGRESS  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  FROM  1861  TO  1886.  Page  124 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER    VI. — LABOR  LEGISLATION Page   172 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER     VII. PRINTERS    AND    THEIR    UNIONS Page    183 

BY  JOHN  M.  FARQJJHAK. 

CHAPTER     VIII. SHOEMAKERS    IN    THE    MOVEMENT Page    lyi 

BY  FRANK  K.  FOSTER. 

CHAPTER     IX. PROGRESS    IN   THE    TEXTILE    TRADES         ....     Page    2  I  4 

BY  ROBERT  HOWARD. 

CHAPTER    X.— COAL  MINERS '       .   Page  241 

BY  JOHN   McBRiot,  ASSISTED  BY  T.  T.  O'MALLEY. 

CHAPTER     XI. THE    STORY    OF    THE    IRON    WORKERS         ....     Page    268 

BY  JOHN  JAKKI  i  i . 

CHAPTER     XII. THE    RISE    OF    RAILROAD    ORGANIZATIONS          .       .     Page    312 

Ki  vi-n>  BY  1'.  M.  ARTIII-R,  for  Locomotive  Engineers;  DATA  FUKNISHEI/BY  E.  V.  DEBS, 

for  Locomotive  Firemen,  and  by  E.  F.  O'SiiEA,  for  Locomotive  Brakemen. 

(viii) 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER     XIII. THE    BUILDING    TRADES          .       .  f    .       .       .  .       .     Page    33! 

BY  THE  EDITOR,  ASSISTED  BY  E.  H.  ROGEKS  AND  P.  J.  McGriKK. 

CHAPTER   XIV. — MISCELLANEOUS  TRADES Page  361 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER   XV. — HISTORY  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  ....   Page  397 
BY  THE  EDITOR,  ASSISTED  BY  THE  FOUNDERS. 

CHAPTERi    XVI. THE    CHINESE    AND    THE    LABOR    QUESTION      .        .     Page    429 

BY  THE  EDITOR,  W.  W.  STONE  AND  CONGRESSMAN  MORROW. 

CHAPTER   XVII. — THE  PROBLEM  OF  TO-DAY Page  454 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER   XVIII.— THE  HOURS  OF  LABOR Page  470 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER     XIX. DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES    OF    THE  K.   OF  L.    Page    483 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

CHAPTER   XX- — ARBITRATION Page  497 

BY  JOHN  J.  O'NEILL. 

CHAPTER   XXL— CO-OPERATION Page  508 

BY  FRANKLIN  II.  GIDDINGS. 

CHAPTER   XXII.— INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION Page  532 

BY  REV.  R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. — THE  LAND  QUESTION Page  561 

BY  HENRY  GEORGE. 

CHAPTER   XXIV. — THE  ARMY  OF  UNEMPLOYED Page  575 

BY  T.  V.  POWDERLY. 

CHAPTER   XXV. — THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CANADA   ....  Page  585 

BY    D.  J.    O'DONOGHUE. 

APPENDIX. 

CIGAR  MAKERS'  INTERNATIONAL  UNION     . Page  597 

BY  ADOLPH  STRASSER. 

THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA Page  608 

BY  E.  BURDETTE  HASKELL. 

THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  COLORADO ....  Page  611 

BY  J.  R.  BUCHANAN. 


X  CONTKNTS. 

Till      \\IION\I.    (iK\\(,l^\M)    P  \TKO\s    OF    HrSKANDRY          .       .       .     Page   613 

II  v  THK  KDITOK. 

SOCIALISM   IN  AMKKICA      ...............   Page  614 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 


...................   Page  617 

DIAI.KAMS     .......  ........    Page  6j8 

'I'  \I-.I.K.S     .....................    Pugo  6 


THE   LABOR   MOVEMENT. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  LABORER. 

THE  STUDY  OF  ECONOMIC  HISTORY  NECESSARY  TO  AN*  UNDERSTANDING  OF 
THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  — THB  LABORER  IN  GREECE — IN  ROME  —  AMONG 
THE  ANCIENT  GERMANS  —  AMONG  THE  ANGLO-SAXONS  —  IN  THE  MID- 
DLE AGES — IN  ENGLAND  AFTER  THE  NORMAN  CONQJJEST —  SOCIAL 
CLASSES  ON  MEDIAEVAL  ESTATE — THE  LORDS,  SERFS,  COTTAGERS, 
FREE  TENANT  —  THE  GROWING  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SERF  —  THE  BLACK 
DEATH  —  THE  RISE  IN  WAGES  AND  EMANCIPATION  OF  THE  SERF  — 
THE  COMBINATION  OF  LORDS  TO  REDUCE  WAGES  AND  COUNTER-COM- 
BINATIONS OF  THE  LABORERS  — THE  ATTEMPT  TO  REDUCE  THE  LABORERS 
TO  SERFDOM  —  THEIR  INSURRECTION  —  GROWING  DEBASEMENT  OF  THE 
LABORER  DURING  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  —  STATUTE  OF  APPRENTICE- 
SHIP—  FIXING  OF  WAGES  BY  PUBLIC  AUTHORITY  IN  THE  INTEREST  OF 
EMPLOYERS  —  THE  POOR  LAW  OF  ELIZABETH  —  ADDITIONAL  STEPS  IN 
THE  DEGRADATION  OF  THE  LABORER — THE  LAW  OF  PAROCHIAL  SET- 
TLEMENT AND  ALLOWANCE  AND  SYSTEM  OF  SUPPLEMENTARY  ALLOW- 
ANCES —  PRESENT  CONDITION  AND  FUTURE  PROSPECTS  OF  THE  AGRICUL- 
TURAL LABORER. 

IF  we  would  comprehend  our  present  labor  problems  we 
must  study  carefully  the  conditions  out  of  which  they  have 
grown.  The  modern  laborer  is  a  historical  product.  He  has 
been  evolved  out  of  a  former  condition  by  a  set  of  influences 
and  forces  of  which  he  himself  has  been  a  prominent  part. 
If  we  would  understand  fully  either  his  present  condition  or 
his  future  prospects  we  must  investigate  carefully  the  course 
of  development  by  which  he  has  become  what  he  is,  and  the 


2  TlIM     I.Aliuli     MOYKMKNT. 

means  which  are  open  to  him  to  become  what  he  should  be. 
II<i\v  groat  the  difference  between  the  condition  of  manual 
labor  to-clav  and  two  or  U-n  centuries  ago  can  be  fully  com- 
prehended only  by  a  careful  study  of  the  vastly  different 
social  and  economic  conditions  now  and  then. 

The  materials  for  such  a  study  are  being  gathered  slowly 
and  with  much  difficulty  by  a  large  number  of  enthusiastic 

»  o  % 

and  patient  economists  of  the  new  school  in  Germany,  En- 
gland, France  and  America.  Until  very  recently,  indeed, 
historians  have  given  almost  no  attention  to  the  social  and 
economic  conditions  of  respective  periods.  The  things  which 
have  attracted  their  attention  have  been  chiefly  the  striking 
phenomena  of  national  life,  the  course  of  wars,  the  outcome 
of  battles,  political  changes,  the  rise  and  fall  of  dynasties, 
and  other  similar  movements.  The  quiet  and  often  vastly 
more  important  changes  in  the  economic  spirit  and  system  of 
the  age  and  country  have  escaped  even  the  merest  notice. 
We  are  dependent  for  our  knowledge  of  such  things  almost 
entirely  on  the  accidental  mention  of  facts  which  may  justify 
us  in  inferring  what  conditions  must  have  existed  with  such 
facts,  or  on  the  accidental  preservation  of  accounts,  rent-rolls, 
bills  of  sale  and  similar  items.  It  is  scanty,  at  best,  and  for 
some  periods  is  lacking  almost  altogether. 

There  is  a  special  difficulty  in  the  way  of  getting  at  all  the 
facts  in  .regard  to  the  history  of  the  laborer  in  past  times," 
owing  to  the  circumstance  that  history  has  nearly  always  been 
written  by  authors  representative  of,  and  in  the  interest  of,  the 
ruling  classes.  We  may  consequently  be  tolerably  sure  that 
e\  rrything  will  be  presented  from  the  standpoint  of  the  aris- 
tocrat and  gentleman',  or  master  and  despot.  We  owe,  there- 
fore, a  special  debt  of  gratitude  to  such  men  as  Brentano, 
Schoenberg,  Rogers,  and  many  others  who  have  worked  in 
their  spirit,  all  of  whom  have  made  an  earnest  effort  to  find 
out  the  exact  facts  about  labor  conditions  and  labor  move- 
ments in  the  past  and  have  presented  them  without  fear  or  favor, 
though  the  simple  presentation  of  the  facts  constitute  in  many 
cases  a  terrible  indictment  of  the  policy  and  honesty  of  the 
ruling  classes  in  one  country  as  well  as  in  another. 


THE    STUDY    OF    ECONOMIC    HISTORY.  3 

The  materials  for  a  history  of  agricultural  labor  are  more 
ample  in  the  case  of  England  than  in  that  of  any  other  coun- 
try, while  the  rise  of  mechanical  labor  can  be  traced  more 
satisfactorily  in  the  history  of  Germany  than  elsewhere.  In 
the  following  sketch,-  accordingly,  we  shall  pursue  the  history 
of  agricultural  labor  chiefly  in  England,  and  that  of  mechani- 
cal labor  on  the  Continent,  and  particularly  in  Germany. 
This  plan  will  not  interfere  seriously  with  the  continuity  of 
the  account  since  much  the  same  conditions  prevailed  in  all 
the  countries  of  Western  Europe  down  to  recent  date.  The 
authorities  for  the  statements  of  fact  are  chiefly  the  students 
of  economic  history,  mentioned  above,  upon  whose  writings 
liberal  drafts  have  been  made  wherever  they  would  serve  our 
purpose. 

Until  very  recent  times  the  great  majority  of  men  were  in 
a  condition  of  personal  dependence,  which,  although  vary- 
ing much  in  different  countries  and  at  different  times,  may  be 
fairly  termed  personal  slavery.  The  many  have  been  com- 
pelled to  labor  for  the  few,  who,  in  the  light  of  law  and  cus- 
tom, were  alone  entitled  to  the  fruits  of  the  labor,  and  could 
give  little  or  much  to  the  persons  \vho  actually  did  the  work. 
This  condition  is  so  different  from  those  which  prevail  now- 
adays, that  it  would  at  first  seem  as  if  it  called  for  little  atten- 
tion. But  a  careful  study  of  the  history  of  legislation  and 
economic  progress  shows  that  it  is  simply  impossible  to 
understand  many  of  our  existing  laws  unless  we  go  back 
to  a  time  when  the  great  mass  of  laborers  were  practically 
the  slaves  of  the  few. 

In  Greece  and  Rome  slavery  was  recognized  as  a  funda- 
mental institution  of  the  state  —  the  absolute  condition  of  any 
progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  slaves  consisted  of 
captives  in  war,  or  of  those  who  had  been  purchased  from 
those  who  had  captured  them,  or  those  who  had  fallen  into 
debt  and  had  no  other  way  of  payment  than  that  of  selling 
themselves  and  children  into  slavery  to  the  creditor,  and  of 
those  who  in  times  of  disturbance  had  no  way  of  protecting 
themselves  except  by  giving  themselves  up  body  and  soul 
into  the  protection,  /.  <?.,  -the  slavery  of  a  superior.  It  was 


4  THE    LABOR    MOVKMKNT. 

the  hands  of  slaves  "that  tilled  the  soil,  dug  the  mine,  wove 
the  cloth,  and  built  the  walls  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome." 
Labor  with  the  hands,  except  that  on  a  farm,  was  considered 
beneath  the  dignity  of  a  free  Greek  or  Roman.  It  had  to 
be  perlonm-d  by  the  slaves  or  by  free  hired  labor  from  the 
lower  class  of  citizens  who  aspired  to  no  position  of  honor  in 
the  state.  It  is  estimated  that  in  the  early  ages  of  Rome 
there  were  more  slaves  than  free  servants,  and  it  is  certain 
that  in  the  times  of  the  latter  republic  the  large  landowners 
found  it  more  profitable  to  cultivate  their  fields  by  slaves  than 
by  free  labor.  It  has  been,  claimed  that  the  free  citizens  in 
the  provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire  supported  themselves  in 
agriculture  by  their  own  labor  without  the  assistance  of  slaves, 
but  this  is  notlikely  to  be  true.  The  great  mass  of  the  craftsmen, 
smiths,  carpenters,  metal  workers,  shoemakers,  tailors,  dyers 
and  others  were  all  slaves,  either  of  those  who  wore  or  used 
the  products  of  their  labor  or  of  those  who  sold  the  results  of 
their  exertions.  The  condition  of  these  slaves  was  hopeless 
in  the  extreme.  They  were  regarded  as  mere  animals  with 
no  rights  which  their  masters  were  bound  to  respect.  They 
could  be  tortured  to  death,  struck  dead,  or  flogged  at  the  mere 
order  of  the  master,  and  no  one,  not  even  the  magistrate,  had 
any  right  to  interfere. 

The  Germans  who  conquered  the  Roman  Empire  and 
established  their  dominion  over  every  part  of  modern  Europe 
were  also  familiar  with  the  institution  of  slavery.  Tacitus,  the 
great  Roman  historian,  describes  the  condition  of  the  slaves 
among  the  Germans  in  a  few  short  but  telling  sentences. 
The  slave,  he  says,  may  be  sold,  punished  or  killed  by  his 
master.  lie,  is  not  recognized  as  being  a  member  of  society 
and  is  not  allowed  to  dress  himself  as  a  citizen.  It  is  true 
that  the  actual  treatment  of  the  slave  was  not  as  cruel  and 
M'vere  as  one  might  suppose  from  the  utter  lack  of  rights.  It 
was  much  milder  than  among  the  Romans.  The  children  of 
slaves  grew  up  side  by  side  in  the  same  house  with  the  chil- 
dren of  the  masters.  This,  of  itself,  would  of  course  tend  to  do 
away  with  some  of  the  most  common  forms  of  cruelty.  Mar- 
riage between  a  free  person  and  a  slave,  however,  was  forbid- 


THE    LABORER    AMONG    THE    ANGLO-SAXONS.  5 

den  under  severe  penalty.  In  some  tribes  the  free  person  so 
marrying  was  subjected  to  slavery  and  in  other  cases  was  pun- 
ished by  death.  The  greater  independence  of  the  German 
slave  from  his  master  is  also  partly  explained  by  the  fact  that 
he  often  lived  on  a  small  piece  of  land  which  his  master  as- 
signed him  and  from  which  he  made  his  living  undisturbed  by 
the  latter,  except  when  called  upon  for  service  or  for  a  yearly 
contribution  consisting  in  a  part  of  the  crops  which  he  had 
raised.  The  development  of  this  condition  of  things  from  this 
state  of  absolute  slavery  up  through  the  intermediate  stages, 
until  slavery  gave  way  to  personal  freedom  in  the  present  cen- 
tury, was  a  very  slow  one  and  one  which  progressed  very  un- 
equally in  different  countries.  All  the  modern  European  coun- 
tries commenced  with  this  condition  of  affairs  and  have  finally 
ended  with  the  legal  independence  of  the  present  century. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  who  conquered  England  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries  after  Christ,  took  with  them  the  institution  of 
slavery.  Two-thirds  of  the  people  were  either  absolute  slaves 
or  in  an  intermediate  state  of  bondage  to  the  remaining  third. 
They  might  be  put  in  bonds  and  whipped,  they  might  be 
branded,  and  on  one  occasion  are  spoken  of  as  if  actually 
yoked:  "Let  every  man  know  his  team  of  men,  of  horses 
and  oxen."  Cattle  and  slaves  formed,  in  truth,  the  live 
money  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  were  the  medium  of  ex- 
change by  which  the  value  of  commodities  was  measured. 

For  centuries  the  Anglo-Saxon  subdivisions  of  society  were 
maintained  and  the  inhabitants  of  England  were  divided 
into  two  great  classes  of  freemen  and  slaves.  Except  the  bar- 
onial proprietors  of  land  and  their  vassals,  the  free  tenants 
and  seamen,  the  rest  of  the  nation  was  depressed  in  servitude, 
which,  though  qualified  as  to  its  effects,  was  uniform  in  its  prin- 
ciple that  none  who  had  been  born  in  or  had  fallen  into  bond- 
age could  acquire  an  absolute  right  to  any  species  of  property. 

The  condition,  however,  of  the  people  who  were  thus  de- 
barred from  the  first  of  social  rights  was  not  in  other  respects 
equally  abject  and  miserable.  One  class  of  villains  or  villag- 
ers, though  bound  to  the  most  servile  offices  of  rural  industry, 
were  permitted  to  occupy  small  portions  of  land  to  sustain 


6  THK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

thrmsrlvi-s  and  families.  Other  ranks  of  men  equally  servile 
are  noticed  in  the  ancient  records,  particularly  the  bordars 
and  cottars,  the  former  in  consideration  of  being  allowed  a 
small  cottage  were  required  to  provide  poultry,  eggs  and 
other  articles  of  diet  for  the  lord's  table  ;  and  the  latter  were 
rmplovrd  in  the  trades  of  smith,  carpenter  and  other  handi- 
craft arts  in  which  they  had  been  instructed  at  the  charge  of 
their  masters.  Inferior  to  these  were  the  thralls  or  servi,  prin- 
cipally employed  in  menial  services  about  the  mansion. 
Their  lives  were  professedly  protected  by  law  and  with  the 
consent  of  their  owners  they  were  allowed  in  some  cases  to 
purchase  their  manumission.  In  other  respects  they  were  in 
the  lowest  degradation,  so  much  so  as  to  be  considered 
mere  chattels  and  regular  articles  of  commerce.  Giral- 
dus  relates  that  the  number  of  them  exported  to  Ireland  for 
sale,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  II.,  was  so  great  that  the  mar- 
ket was  absolutely  overstocked,  and  from  William  I.  to  the 
reign  of  John  scarcely  a  cottage  in  Scotland  but  possessed  an 
English  slave.  In  the  details  of  the  border  wars  mention  is 
frequently  made  of  the  number  of  slaves  taken  prisoners  as 
forming  a  principal  part  of  the  booty. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  from  writers  the  precise  immuni- 
ties of  the  several  classes  of  bondmen  mentioned ;  the  chief 
differences  in  their  condition  arose  probably  from  the  relative 
utility  of  their  occupations,  the  servi  or  serfs  as  least  valuable 
being  a  more  ordinary  article  of  traffic  and  transfer  than  the 
bordars  and  cottars  who  had  been  trained  to  useful  arts  or 
obtained  a  fixed  habitation. 

All,  however,  alike  appear  to  have  been  denuded  of  the 
substantial  attributes  of  freedom  ;  the  law  recognized  in  none 
the  uncontrolled  right  to  property  or  change  of  place  without 
the  consent  of  their  superiors ;  the  lord  had  the  absolute 
disposal  of  their  persons ;  they  might  be  attached  to  the 
soil  or  transferred  by  deed,  sale,  or  conveyance  from  one 
owner  to  another;  in  short  they  were  slaves  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  word,  men  under  an  obligation  of  perpetual 
servitude,  which  the  consent  of  the  master  could  alone  dis- 
solve, and  in  all  probability  enjoyed  less  legal  protection  from 


THE  LABORER  AFTER  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST.      7 

the  ill-usage  of  their  oppressors  than  the  humanity  of  modern 
legislation  has  extended  to  the  brute  creation. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  class  the  population  existing 
at  the  close  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period  into  its  several  propor- 
tions of  nobles,  freemen,  and  those  of  servile  condition,  but 
with  no  great  pretence  to  accuracy.  In  thirty-four  counties 
the  burgesses  and  citizens  are  made  to  amount  to  17,105,  the 
villains  to  102,704,  the  bordars  to  74,823,  the  cottars  to  5,947, 
the  serfs  or  thralls  to  26,552.  The  remaining  population  con- 
sisted of  freemen,  ecclesiastics,  knights,  thanes,  and  land- 
owners. In  the  opinion  of  Sir  James  Mclntosh,  the  per- 
sons strictly  slaves  were  not  above  one  out  of  every  seven 
of  the  higher  laborious  classes  of  villains,  bordars  and 
cottars. 

In  1060  Anglo-Saxon  England  was  conquered  by  the 
Normans,  under  the  leadership  of  William  the  Conqueror. 
This  conquest  appears  to  have  completely  supplanted  the 
Anglo-Saxon  aristocracy,  and  to  have  put  the  soldiers  who 
accompanied  William  into  the  places  of  those  nobles  who  had 
ruled  the  peasantry.  There  is  no  proof,  however,  that  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  were  any  worse  off  after  the  con- 
quest than  before,  nor  is  it  at  all  likely  that  they  were  any 
better  off.  The  thane,  as  the  Saxon  lord  was  called,  had  his 
villains  and  slaves,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Norman  baron  was  a  worse  master  than  the  Saxon  thane, 
whom  he  superseded. 

In  order  to  get  a  fairly  satisfactory  picture  of  the  economic 
and  social  condition  of  the  English  people  in  the  period  fol- 
lowing the  conquest,  \ve  must  glance  at  the  life  of  the  people 
in  town  and  country.  Under  the  feudal  system  of  society, 
which  had  been  developing  under  the  late  Anglo-Saxons,  and 
which  was  fully  developed  under  the  Normans,  society  was 
sharply  divided  into  different  classes,  with  a  peculiar  and 
complicated  system  of  mutual  rights  and  duties  which  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  explained  in  all  its  details.  It  seems 
th'at  in  rural  districts,  i.  e.,  outside  of  the  chartered  cities,  the 
whole  country  was  divided  into  a  series  of  landed  estates, 
some  in  the  hands  of  powerful  barons,  and  some  in  the  hands 


8  THK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  the  church.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  lived  on  these 
estates  in  various  degrees  of  dependence  on  the  lord  of  the 
manor,  as  the  superior  was  called,  whether  a  baron  or  the 
church  or  other  corporation. 

On  each  of  these  great  estates  there  was  one  or  more  vil- 
lages where  the  freer  part  of  the  dependents  lived.  The 
settlement  contained  several  orders  of  social  life.  First  there 
was  the  lord  who  usually  had  a  manor-house  or  mansion  in 
which  he  lived.  He  had  about  this  his  special  farm,  which 
he  cultivated  by  means  of  his  slaves  and  the  labor  which  the 
other  dependents  owed  him  as  rent  for  their  farms.  The  next 
class  was  that  of  free  tenants,  i.  e.,  tenants  who  were  freemen. 
Thev  were  independent  of  the  personal  power  of  the  lord, 
and  had  the  right  to  take  part  in  the  village  court,  etc.  The 
other  tenants  were  cottagers  and  bordars,  who  did  not  have  the 
same  liberty  as  the  free  tenants,  and  finally  the  serfs  who  at 
one  period  were  regarded  as  the  slaves  of  the  lord,  but.  who 
were  gradually  acquiring  certain  rights.  The  lord  of  the 
manor  was  recognized  as  the  owner  of  the  serfs  and  the 
superior  of  the  villagers  and  cottars.  But  there  were  many 
customs  which  limited  very  materially  the  power  of  the  lord 
over  the  land  and  his  estate.  It  became  usual  for  the  lord 
to  assign  to  his  serfs  lots  of  land  which  they  might  cultivate 
for  themselves  in  return  for  giving  a  certain  portion  of  their 
products,  and  rendering  labor  at  certain  periods.  It  soon 
became  a  custom,  with  all  the  force  of  law,  that  as  long  as  the 
serf  or  cottager  performed  his  services,  the  lord  might  not 
disturb  him  in  possession.  The  lord  could  do  what  he 
pleased  with  the  lot  which  belonged  to  himself,  but  he  was 
entitled  only  to  certain  services  from  the  holders  of  the  rest  of 
the  manor.  There  was  also  always  a  large  portion  of  the 
estate  which  was  held  in  common  by  the  lord  of  the  manor 
and  his  tenants,  viz.,  the  woodlands  and  pasture  land.  It 
was  recognized  to  be  a  right  of  the  tenant  to  take  as  much 
wood  from  the  forest,  and  pasture  as  many  cattle  on  the  pas- 
tures as  he  chose.  It  is  evident  that  this  was  a  most  valuable 
right,  and  one  intimately  connected  with  the  welfare  of  every 
tenant.  As  the  serfs  became  tenants,  these  same  rights 


CLASSES    ON    MEDIEVAL    ESTATES.  9 

passed  over  to  them.  The  villagers  and  cottars,  after  they 
had  performed  the  services  due  the  lord  of  the  manor,  had 
their  time  for  their  own  work.  They  had  ample  time  after 
they  had  tilled  their  own  fields,  to  go  out  as  day-laborers 
either  for  their  lord  for  such  wages  as  he  might  pay,  or  for 
other  lords  or  fellow-tenants.  The  serfs  acquired  the  same 
rights  in  course  of  time. 

As  civilization  progressed,  it  became  usual  for  the  tenants 
to  offer  their  lord  money  instead  of  labor  for  the  services  due 
him.  It  wras  for  the  interest  of  both  parties  that  this  commu- 
tation of  payments  in  kind  for  money  payments  should  be 
made.  In  the  first  place  it  was  very  burdensome  to  the  ten- 
ant to  have  to  leave  his  own  work  and  go  and  help  his  lord 
harvest  just  at  the  time  when  his  own  field  needed  his  atten- 
tion most.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  very  difficult  for  the 
lord's  overseer  to  get  any  amount  of  work  out  of  the  unwill- 
ing tenant.  The  interest  of  both  parties  thus  combined  to  favor 
the  new  custom  of  commutation.  As  the  services  of  the  ten- 
ants were  not  very  valuable,  since  labor  was  cheap,  the  lords 
were  willing  to  let  them  off  with  easy  payments.  The  serf 
shared  in  all  these  advantages,  and  was  rapidly  becoming 
almost  as  independent,  so  far  as  his  earnings  were  concerned, 
as  the  cottager  or  free  tenant,  the  lord  becoming,  in  the  mean- 
time, more  and  more  dependent  on  hired  labor.  Everything  was 
thus  rapidly  progressing  toward  a  time  when  the  serf  should 
be  free  and  independent,  and  the  free  tenant  his  own  man  in 
every  respect  except  the  payment  of  a  small  cash  rent,  when 
a  sudden  event  happened  which  proved  to  be  a  disturbing 
cause  of  the  most  powerful  and  far-reaching  kind.  The 
Black  Death  appeared  in  England  on  the  ist  of  August,  1348, 
and  within  a  short  time  one-third  of  the  population  of  En- 
gland had  perished.  The  economic  and  social  effects  of  this 
terrible  plague  were  far-reaching  and  long-working.  One 
of  the  immediate  consequences  was,  of  course,  a  great  dearth 
of  labor,  a  very  great  enhancement  of  wages,  and  a  serious 
difficulty  in  collecting  the  harvests  of  those  landlords  who 
depended  on  a  supply  of  hired  labor  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting in  their  crops.  We  are  told  that  crops  rotted  in  the  fields 


IO  THK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

for  want  of  hands  ;  that  cattle  and  sheep  roamed  at  large 
over  the  country  for  want  of  herdsmen ;  and  that  great  estates 
went  out  of  cultivation. 

Two  important  results  showed  themselves  immediately. 
The  process  of  commutation  for  money  payments  became 
more  rapid,  each  landlord  being  willing  to  give  his  tenants 
the  host  terms  he  could  to  prevent  them  from  leaving,  and 
being  willing  to  favor  the  serf  to  prevent  him  from  running 
away  to  some  other  lord  who  would  defend  him  against  his 
old  master,  in  order  to  utilize  his  labor.  The  second  result 
was  the  final  emancipation  of  the  serfs  over  a  great  part  of 
England. 

It  soon  became  evident  to  the  lords  that,  what  with  rising 
wages  and  falling  prices  of  farm  products,  they  would  soon 
be  in  a  bad  way.  The  remedy  to  which  they  resorted  was 
characteristic.  They  secured  the  passage  of  the  celebrated 
statute  of  laborers,  in  1350,  which  remained  on  the  statute 
books  of  England  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  until,  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  1562,  it  was  replaced  by  another. 
The  statute  contained  eight  clauses  :  i.  No  person  under  sixty 
years  of  age,  whether  serf  or  free,  shall  decline  to  undertake 
farm  labor  at  the  wages  which  had  been  customary  in  1327, 
except  they  lived  by  merchandize,  were  regularly  engaged 
in  some  mechanical  craft,  were  possessed  of  private  means  or 
were  occupiers  of  land.  The  lord  was  to  have  the  first  claim 
on  the  labor  of  his  serf,  and  those  who  declined  to  work  for 
him  or  for  others  were  to  be  sent  to  the  common  jail.  2.  Im- 
prisonment is  decreed  for  all  persons  who  may  quit  service 
before  the  time  which  is  fixed  in  their  agreements.  3.  No 
other  than  the  old  wages  are  to  be  given,  and  the  remedy 
against  those  who  seek  more  is  to  be  sought  in  the  lord's 
court.  4.  Lords  of  manors  paying  more  than  the  custom- 
ary rates  are  liable  to  treble  damages.  5.  Artificers  are  to 
be  liable  to  the  same  conditions,  the  artificers  enumerated 
being :  saddlers,  tanners,  farriers,  shoemakers,  tailors,  smiths, 
carpenters,  masons,  tillers,  plasterers,  carters  and  others. 
6.  Food  must  be  sold  at  reasonable  prices.  7.  Alms  are 
strictly  forbidden  to  able-bodied  laborers.  8.  Any  excess  of 


LORDS,  SERFS,  COTTAGERS,  FREE  TENANTS.       II 

wages  taken  or  given  can  be  seized  for  the  king's  use.  The 
statute  provides  for  the  difference  between  summer  and  winter 
wages,  and  guards  against  the  emigration  of  the  town  popu- 
lation to  country  places  in  summer.  In  answer  to  complaints 
from  employers  this  statute  was  re-enacted  again  and  again 
from  year  to  year  with  accumulated  penalties  and  precautions 
—  penalties  sometimes  laid  on  the  employers,  sometimes  on 
the  laborers,  and  sometimes  on  both.  An  attempt  was  made 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  to  enforce  appren- 
ticeship in  the  handicrafts  with  the  view  of  making  it  difficult 
to  get  into  them  and  thus  make  the  number  of  those  who  had 
to  take  their  recourse  to  agriculture  larger,  and  thus  secure 
cheap  labor  for  the  landlord  and  tenant-farmer.  It  was  in 
other  words  a  gigantic  attempt  on  the  part  of  employers  to 
keep  down  the  wages  of  labor. 

The  rise  in  agricultural  wages  in  all  kinds  of  men's  work 
taken  together,  some  years  after  the  plague,  when  the  rates 
had  become  pretty  steady,  was  fifty  per  cent.,  and  of  women's 
work  fully  one  hundred  per  cent.  When  taken  together  the 
rise  in  the  wages  of  artisans'  labor  was  almost  exactly  the 
same  as  that  effected  in  the  case  of  the  husbandmen.  The 
result  is  marked,  universal,  permanent  and  conclusive,  even 
if  we  did  not  have  on  record  the  complaints  pf  the  landown- 
ers in  Parliament  that  the  statute  of  laborers  was  entirely  in- 
operative. 

The  combination  of  employers  to  depress  wages  to  the  old 
rates  shown  by  this  statute,  might,  however,  have  been  suc- 
cessful if  it  had  not  been  met  by  counter-organizations  on  the 
part  of  the  laborers.  They  formed  societies;  subscribed,  as  we 
are  expressly  told,  considerable  sums  of  money  for  the  de- 
fense and  protection  particularly  of  the  serfs  and  for  the  pay- 
ment of  fines.  In  plain  English,  the  serfs  entered  into  what 
are  now  called  trades-unions  and  supported  each  other  in  re- 
sistance to  the  law  and  demands  for  higher  wages.  This  is 
especially  noticeable  among  the  peasantry,  the  upland  folk  as 
they  were  called,  to  distinguish  them  from  artisans  and  towns- 
people generally.  These  facts  are  proved  by  the  averages  of 
agricultural  wages,  which  at  first  were  only  occasionally 


12  THi:    l.AP.OR    MOVEMENT. 

\vrv  high  in  comparison  with  what  they  had  been  before  the 
plague.  At  last,  twenty  years  after  the  first  incidence  of  the 
plague,  the  combination  seemed  to  have  been  completely  suc- 
cessful, and  the  prices  of  harvest-labor  were  more  than  double 
those  before  the  plague.  Thus  the  results  of  this  great  eco- 
nomic revolution  in  favor  of  the  laborer  were  only  saved  by 
the  combinations  of  the  laborers  themselves  to  protect  and 
guard  their  own  interests. 

But  the  lords  were  by  no  means  ready  to  let  the  case  go  by 
default.  They  had  not  yet  tried  all  experiments.  They  next 
atu-mpted  to  do  away  with  the  bargains  which  they  had  made 
with  their  serfs  to  accept  money  payments  in  place  of  labor 
rents,  and  tried  to  compel  the  serfs  to  render  again  the  old 
labor  rents  which  had  been  usual  before  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  /.  e.,  to  reduce  them  again  to  villainage  in  the  old 
si-use.  But  the  time  for  this  had  gone  by.  The  serfs  had 
learned  their  own  power  and  how  to  use  it.  They  organized 
anew  and  waited  for  their  opportunity  The  secret  was  well 
kept.  The  storm  which  no  politician  of  the  time  antici- 
pated burst  on  June  10,  1381.  The  uprising  of  peasant  and 
serf  was  simultaneous.  For  a  time  it  looked  as  if  the  govern- 
ment of  England  was  destined  to  pass  into  other  hands.  Fi- 
nally, by  the  use  of  treachery,  the  ruling  party  killed  the 
leader  of  the  insurrection,  Wat  Tyler;  and,  persuaded  by  the 
promises  of  the  king,  the  peasants  and  the  serfs  returned 
home.  No  sooner  had  the  king  seated  himself  securely  again 
than  he  proceeded  to  take  summary  vengeance  on  the  rioters. 
A  commission  was  sent  into  the  disturbed  districts  and  some 
i  ,500  persons  were  taken  and  hanged. 

The  peasants  were  dispersed  and  defeated ;  their  leaders 
were  tried,  sentenced  and  hanged  ;  but  the  solid  fruits  of  vic- 
tory remained  with  the  insurgents  of  1381.  The  peril  had 
been  so  great  and  the  success  of  the  insurrection  so  near, that 
wise  men  saw  it  was  better  silently  to  concede  that  which  the 
Parliament  had  so  stoutly  refused  to  grant.  It  is  absolutely 
certain  the  claims  of  the  serfs  were  conceded  and  that  the 
claims  of  the  landlords  were  dropped.  The  custom  of  com- 
muting old  labor  rents  for  money  became  universal ;  the  serfs 


THE  ENGLISH  LABORER  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.        13 

became  free  tenants  and  the  insurrection  of  Tyler  became 
characteristically  enough  in  the  accounts  of  the  historians  of 
the  time  a  mere  outbreak  of  a  mob  which  had  been  stirred 
to  indignation  by  a  brutal  tax-gatherer.  It  is  improbable 
that  the  serfs  would  have  held  all  the  advantages  which  they 
had  at  one  time  gained  even  if  Tyler  had  not  been  assassi- 
nated. But  they  caused  such  terror  by  what  they  did  do  that 
they  gained  all  they  claimed,  and  that  right  speedily.  The 
English  laborer  for  a  century  or  more  became  virtually  free 
and  constantly  prosperous;  and  this  again  by  his  own  efforts 
in  combination  with  his  fellow  la-borers. 

According  to  the  investigations  of  Professor  Rogers,  and 
most  other  investigators  agree  with  him,  the  fifteenth  century 
and  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  were  the  golden  age  of 
the  English  laborer,  if  we  are  to  interpret  the  wages  he  earned 
by  the  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  At  no  time  were  wages 
so  high  or  the  cost  of  food  so  low,  and  seldom  were  the  hours 
of  labor  so  few.  Within  a  century  he  sunk,  from  perfectly 
intelligible  causes,  to  so  low  a  level  as  to  become  practically 
hopeless.  He  then  improved  again,  until  in  the  first  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century  he  reached  a  condition  of  comparative 
plenty  though  not  so  prosperous  a  condition  as  in  the  fifteenth. 
He  then  began  to  sink  again,  and  the  workman  experienced 
the  direst  misery  during  the  great  Napoleonic  wars.  Lat- 
terly, almost  within  our  own  memory,  the  state  of  the  laborer 
has  experienced  a  slow  and  partial  improvement,  the  causes  of 
which  are  to  be  found  in  the  liberation  of  industry,  in  the 
adoption  of  certain  principles  which  restrained  employment  in 
certain  directions,  and  most  of  all  in  the  concession  to  laborers 
of  the  right  so  long  denied  of  forming  labor  unions. 

Several  causes  conspired  during  the  sixteenth  century  to 
make  the  condition  of  the  laborer  worse  than  it  had  been 
before.  There  was,  in  the  first  place,  a  great  debasement  of 
the  currency  followed  by  an  enormous  rise  in  prices  which 
was  not  followed  by  a  proportional  rise  in  wages.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  in  the  course  of  time  wages  might  have  risen  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  rise  in  prices  if  the  laborers  had  combined  to 
defend  their  own  interests  effectually.  But  not  only  did  they 


14  Till-.    J.AIIOR    MOVKMKXT. 

ni>t  combine,  but  tin-  ruling  classes  combined  to  keep  wages 
from  rising,  and  they  succeeded  in  this  attempt.     To  make 
the  matter  worse  the  king  of  England,  Henry  VIII.,  destroyed 
the  guilds,  which  were  the  mediaeval  trades-unions,  as  will  be 
fully  described  in  the  next  chapter,  and  confiscated  their  prop- 
erty.    This  prevented  them  from  extending  their  aid  to  pov- 
ertv-stricken  members  and  threw  the  latter  on  the  community 
for  support.     The  artisan  was  thus  attacked  simultaneously 
from  two  sides.     His  cost  of  living  was  increased  while  wages 
remained    the    same,  and   the    assistance  which    his   benefit 
society  gave    him  in  times  of  trouble,  which   allowed    him 
loans  without  interest,  apprenticed  his  sons  and  pensioned  his 
widow,  was  confiscated.     The  agricultural  laborer  was  driven 
to  the  wall  by  the  increasing  habit  of  enclosures  of  the  com- 
mon lands  by  the  landlords,  thus  depriving  him  of  the  rights 
of  pasturage  for  his  cattle  and  hogs,  and  making  the  keeping 
of  these  impossible.     They  deprived  him  also  of  the  right  to 
take  wood  and  timber  from  the  common  wood-lot.     All  these 
things  contributed  to  increase  the  number  of  the  hopelessly 
poor  who  had  no  prospect  of  rising  above  the  lowest  level  of 
society.     So  rapidly  did  this  class  increase  that  a  law  was 
passed  in  1547  to  restrain  pauperism  and  vagabondage  by  re- 
ducing the  landless  poor,  who  were  made  poor  by  this  policy 
of  enclosures  on  the  part  of  the  lord,  to  slavery  by  branding 
them  and  making  them  work  in  chains.     This  act  endured, 
however,  only  two  years.    It  was  followed  by  a  law  providing 
for  the  support  of  the  poor.     A  few  years  after,  in  1562,  the 
statute  of  apprenticeship  was  passed,  prescribing  a  period  of 
seven  years  before  practising  any  handicraft  and  empowering 
the  justices  of  the  peace  to  fix  the  rate  of  wages  in  husbandry 
and  handicrafts.     In  1601  the  famous  poor  law  was  enacted 
which,  with  the  supplementary  acts,  completed  a  system  of 
legislation  which  did  as  much  to  degrade  the  laboring  man 
and  prevent  him  from  rising  out  of  a  condition  of  hopeless 
dependence  and  poverty  as  the  most  bitter  enemies  of  labor 
or  most  warm-hearted  partisans  of  privilege  could  desire. 

The  law  provided  for  the  regular  appointment  of  assessors, 
for  the  levy  of  rates,  for  supplying  work  to  the  ablebodied,  for 


THE    POOR    LAW    OF    ELIZABETH.  15 

giving  relief  to  the  infirm  and  old,  and  for  binding  apprentices. 
It  is  evident  that  had  the  act  of  Elizabeth  been  carried  out 
in  all  its  details  the  whole  revenue  of  land  might  have  ulti- 
mately been  swallowed  up  in  the  relief  of  the  poor.  Now, 
it  was  plain  that  if  the  magistrates  were  to  fix  the  rates  at 
which  labor  should  be  paid,  as  they  regularly  did  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,  they  would  have  every  in- 
ducement to  put  the  rate  at  the  lowest  sum  which  could  main- 
tain life,  knowing  well  that  if  the  laborer  should  become  desti- 
tute all  occupiers  would  have  to  assist  in  his  maintenance 
while  the  benefit  of  cheap  labor  would  remain  to  those  who 
employed  labor,  to  which  class  the  magistrates  themselves 
always  belonged. 

Only  one  more  step  remained  to  be  taken  to  consummate 
the  degradation  of  the  laborer,  and  that  was  taken  in  1662, 
in  the  law  of  parochial  settlement,  by  which  the  laborer  was 
prevented  from  going  from  one  parish  to  another  in  search 
of  labor.  It  made  him,  and  has  left  him  up  to  the  present 
time,  a  serf  without  land.  It  applied  equally  to  the  artisan, 
but  he  was  able  to  extricate  himself  from  the  toils  of  this 
hateful  law  at  a  much  earlier  period.  The  law  prescribed 
that  any  person  on  removing  into  a  parish  and  occupying  a 
tenement  of  less  than  ten  pounds'  annual  value  might  be  imme- 
diately removed  to  the  parish  from  which  he  came.  An  act 
passed  thirty-five  years  later  recognized  that  the  law  of  settle- 
ment practically  imprisoned  the  laborer  in  his  place  of  set- 
tlement where  he  could  not  get  work,  though  workmen  were 
badly  wanted  elsewhere.  It  therefore  empowered  church- 
wardens to  allow  laborers  to  migrate  from  their  parishes  if 
the  parish  authorities  would  give  security  that  they  should 
not  be  allowed  to  come  for  their  support  on  the  parish  whither 
they  went.  It  is  superfluous  to  say  that  such  certificates 
would  be  looked  on  with  suspicion  as  expedients  to  relieve 
a  parish  of  its  quota  of  poor.  Hence  it  became  customary 
for  those  who  employed  labor  from  without  the  parish  to  give 
certificates  of  indemnity  to  the  parish  that  they  would  bear 
the  risk  of  the  newcomer's  charge.  The  effect  of  this  law 
was  to  annex  the  laborer  to  the  parish  of  his  residence,  and 


It)  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

to  make  him  the  serf  of  the  community.  Those  persons, 
however,  who  owned  the  whole  of  a  parish  took  care,  when- 
ever they  could,  to  tear  down  cottages  on  their  estate  and 
rely  on  labor  from  a  distance.  By  this  system,  they  hired 
labor  at  the  justice's  rate,  t.  e.,  a  factitiously  low  rate,  while 
the  parish  of  the  man's  residence  had  to  supplement  his  wages 
and  to  bear  all  those  contingencies  which  were  enhanced  by 
the  laborer's  being  constrained  to  travel  a  considerable  dis- 
tance to  his  work  in  all  weathers.  The  law  of  settlement, 
therefore,  not  only  fixed  the  tenant  to  the  soil  but  enabled 
opulent  landowners  to  rob  their  neighbors  and  to  wear  out 
prematurely  the  laborer's  health  and  strength.  All  this  was 
done,  too,  when  the  patriots  and  placemen  chattered  about 
liberty  and  arbitrary  administration,  and  fine  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen talked  about  the  rights  of  man  and  Rousseau  and  the 
French  Revolution  ;  and  Burke  and  Sheridan  were  denounc- 
ing the  despotism  of  Warren  Hastings  !  Why,  at  his  o\vn 
doors  at  Beaconsfield,  Burke  must  have  daily  seen  serfs  ^  ho 
had  less  liberty  than  those  Indians  whose  wrongs  he  de- 
scribed so  dramatically  and  pathetically. 

No  trifling  percentage  of  the  funds  collected  for  the  mai  i- 
tenance  of  the  poor  was  expended  in  litigation  on  the  cases 
which  sprang  out  of  this  law,  since  each  parish  tried  to  shift 
the  burden  of  the  support  of  the  poor,  if  possible,  on  the 
neighboring  parish.  It  was  an  evil  inheritance  of  the  English 
people,  perhaps  the  worst  act  of  the  worst  Parliament  which 
ever  sat,  but  it  was  an  El  Dorado  to  the  lawyers.  Many  a 
barrister  owed  his  place  in  Parliament  and  on  the  bench  to 
his  skill  in  arguing  settlement  cases,  to  the  ingenuity  with 
which  he  was  able  to  tighten  the  bonds  on  the  peasant.  The 
wealthy  landowners  clung  to  it  with  desperate  tenacitv ;  for 
it  increased  their  rents  at  the  expense  of  the  tenants  and  the 
laborers.  What  mattered  it  to  them  that  the  English  peas- 
ant's life  was  aged  soon  after  his  prime,  if  they  could  get 
cheap  labor  and  increasing  rents?  The  whole  force  of  law 
was  directed  for  nearly  two  centuries  toward  the  solution  of 
this  problem  ;  How  much  oppression  ca,n  the  English  people 
endure,  how  much  privation,  misery  and  starvation  without 


THE  LAW  OF  PAROCHIAL  SETTLEMENT,  ETC.      I/ 

absolutely  destroying  the  labor  on  which  the  growing  rents 
depend^*  The  present  generation,  though  a  portion  of  the 
evil  has  been  prevented  for  the  future,  inherit  the  outcome  of 
these  two  centuries  and  with  it  problems  of  the  gravest  kind 
daily  pressing  for  solution,  and  to  which  it  is  idle  to  offer  the 
nostrums  of  over-population,  emigration,  competition,  and 
other  formularies  of  an  ideal  society. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  the  Berkshire  magis- 
trates, struck  with  the  appalling  discrepancy  between  wages 
and  the  price  of  food  —  for  the  labor  of  the  peasant  could  pro- 
cure him,  for  several  years,  only  one-eighth  of  the  amount  of 
wheat  which  the  same  person  could  have  earned  before  1540 
—  met  and  proposed,  not  that  the  mischievous  law  of  Eliza- 
beth, which  established  legal  wages,  should  be  repealed  or  that 
the  infamous  law  of  parochial  settlement  should  be  done  away 
with,  but  that  able-bodied  laborers  should  have  their  wages 
supplemented  by  allowances  from  the  overseer  of  the  poor,, 
proportionate  to  the  number  of  their  children  or  the  general 
charges  of  the  family.  By  this  means  they  were  enabled  to 
prevent  a  general  increase  of  wages,  to  fix  the  wages  of  the 
single  and  childless  at  a  low  amount,  and  compel  all  tenants 
to  contribute  to  the  expense  of  agricultural  operations. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  condition  of  the  agricultural  laborer 
is  to-day  a  very  unhappy  one.  Men  do  not  come  out  of  sucli 
a  state  of  debasement  as  that  into  which  such  a  policy  as  this, 
pursued  for  two  centuries,  has  thrown  them,  in  a  few  days  or 
years,  or  even  decades.  The  very  name  Hodge,  which  is 
applied  to  the  British  agricultural  laborer,  has  come  to  be 
used  as  a  synonym  of  stupidity.  In  1865  Prof.  Fawcett 
wrote  in  his  work,  on  the  economic  condition  of  the  British, 
laborers,  that  theirs  is  a  life  of  incessant  toil  for  wages  too- 
scanty  to  give  them  a  supply  even  of  the  first  necessaries  of 
life.  No  hope  cheers  their  monotonous  careers  :  a  life  of  con- 
stant labor  brings  them  no  other  prospect  than  that  when  their 
strength  is  exhausted  they  must  crave  as  suppliant  mendi- 
cants a  pittance  from  parish  relief. 

The  most  hopeless  feature  in  the  case  is  the  almost  insur- 
mountable obstacles  in  the  way  of  any  improvement  on  the 

(2) 


l8  TIIK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

part  of  the  laborers  themselves.  The  condition  of  the  agri- 
cultural laborer  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  atfisan  in 
this  respect.  Scattered  and  incapable  of  combined  action 
with  his  fellows,  bowed  down  by  centuries  of  oppression,  hard 
usa^e  and  hard  words,  with,  as  he  believes,  every  social  force 
against  him,  the  landlord  in  league  with  the  farmer,  the  cler- 
gyman in  league  with  both  ;  the  latter  preaching  resignation, 
and  the  former  enforcing  it,  he  has  lived  through  evil  times. 
Several  attempts  have  been  made  of  late  years  to  bring  about 
an  organization  of  agricultural  laborers,  but  they  have  been 
onlv  verv  partially  successful.  It  is  difficult  to  organize 
laborers  who  live  so  widely  scattered.  The  present  laborer 
can  give  absolutely  nothing  from  his  scanty  wages  toward 
defraying  the  costs  of  organization,  and  it  costs  something  to 
conduct  a  successful  organization.  Those  who  attempt  to 
form  such  unions  have  to  contend  with  the  apathy  of  despair, 
with  the  sluggishness  of  ignorance,  with  the  habitual  men- 
dacity of  distrust,  and  with  the  low  cunning  with  which  the 
oppressed  shirk  duty.  In  other  words,  the  long  policy  of 
oppression  has  ended  in  sinking  the  laborer  so  low  that  he 
has  neither  intelligence  enough  nor  virtue  enough  to  combine 
with  his  fellow-laborers  in  order  to  raise  their  condition. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  process  by  which  the  condition  of 
the  English  laborer  has  been  continuously  deteriorated  by  the 
acts  of  government.  It  was  first  impoverished  by  the  issue 
of  base  money.  Next  it  was  robbed  of  its  guild  money  by 
the  land  thieves  of  Edward's  regency.  It  was  next  brought 
into  contact  with  a  new  and  more  needy  set  of  employers, 
the  sheep-masters  who  succeeded  the  monks.  It  was  then  by 
a  pretence  subjected  to  the  justices'  assessment  of  wages,  mer- 
cilessly used  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
agricultural  laborer  being  still  further  impoverished  by  being 
made  the  residuum  of  all  labor.  The  agricultural  laborer  was 
then  further  mulcted  by  enclosures  of  common  lands  and  the 
extinction  of  those  immemorial  rights  of  fuel  and  pasture 
which  he  had  enjoyed  so  long.  The  poor  law  professed  to 
find  him  work,  but  was  so  administered  that  the  reduction  of 
his  wages  to  a  bare  subsistence  became  an  easy  process  and 


PRESENT  CONDITION  AND  FUTURE  PROSPECTS,  ETC.   ip 

an  economical  expedient.  When  the  monarchy  was  restored, 
his  employers,  who  fixed  his  wages  by  their  own  authority, 
relieved  their  own  estates  of  their  ancient  dues  at  the  expense 
of  his  poor  luxuries,  by  the  excise ;  tied  him  to  the  soil  by  the 
law  of  settlement,  and  starved  him  by  a  prohibitive  corn  law. 
The  freedom  of  the  few  was  bought  by  the  servitude  of  the 
many.  Fletcher,  of  Saltoun,  an  ardent  republican  for  a  nar- 
row class,  suggested  hopeless  slavery  as  the  proper  doom  of 
the  laborers,  argued  that  the  people  existed  only  to  work,  and 
that  philosophical  politicians  have  the  power  to  limit  their 
existence  by  labor.  Throughout  the  eighteenth  century  the 
most  enlightened  men  gave  the  poor  their  pity;  occasionally 
their  patronage,  and  would  sometimes  assist  them  at  the  cost 
of  other  workers ;  but  beyond  a  bare  existence  never  imag- 
ined that  they  had  rights  or  remembered  that  they  had  suffered 
wrongs.  The  weight  of  taxation  fell  on  them  in  every  direc- 
tion and  with  searching  severity.  It  was  necessary  to  find 
funds  at  all  risks  and  from  every  source  ;  and  it  is  obvious 
that  the  most  fruitful  source  of  taxation  is  that  of  necessary 
consumption  and  cheap  luxuries.  It  was,  of  course,  impos- 
sible to  tax  the  absolute  necessaries  of  the  individual  work- 
man, else  he  would  starve  and  perish.  But  the  process  left 
him  nothing  but  a  bare  subsistence.  To  crown  the  whole, 
the  penalties  of  felony  and  conspiracy  were  denounced  against 
all  laborers  who  associated  together  to  better  their  lot  by 
endeavoring  to  sell  their  labor  in  concert,  while  the  despera- 
tion which  poverty  and  misery  induce,  and  the  crime  they 
suggest,  were  met  by  a  code  more  sanguinary  and  brutal 
than  any  which  a  civilized  nation  had  ever  heretofore  devised 
or  a  high-spirited  one  submitted  to. 

Such  was  the  education  which  the  English  workmen  re- 
ceived from  those  days  when  the  government  employed  and 
developed  those  means  for  oppressing  and  degrading  him. 
It  is  no  marvel  that  he  identifies  the  policy  of  landowner, 
farmer  and  capitalist  employer  with  the  machinery  by  which 
his  lot  has  been  shaped  and  his  fortunes  in  the  distribution  of 
national  wealth  have  been  controlled.  He  may  have  no 
knowledge,  or  a  very  vague  knowledge,  as  to  the  process  by 


2O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

\vhich  so  strange,  so  woeful  an  alteration  has  been  made  in 
his  condition.  But  there  exists,  and  always  has  existed,  a  tra- 
dition, obscure  and  uncertain,  but  deep  seated,  that  there  was 
a  time  when  his  lot  was  happier,  his  means  more  ample,  his 
prospects  more  cheerful  than  they  have  been  in  more  modern 
experience.  From  one  point  of  view  the  annalist  of  the  good 
old  times  may  be  able  to  show  that  life  was  shorter,  disease 
more  rife,  the  market  of  food  more  unsteady,  the  conveniences 
of  life  fewer  and  more  precarious  than  they  are  now.  From 
another  point  of  view,  and  that  by  far  the  most  accurate  and 
exact,  the  relative  position  of  the  workman  was  one  of  far 
more  hope  and  far  more  plenty  in  the  days  of  the  Plantag- 
enets  than  it  has  been  in  those  of  Hanover.  Wages  were, 
relative  to  their  purchasing  power,  far  higher,  and  the  mar- 
gin of  enjoyable  income  over  necessary  expenditure  was,  in 
consequence,  far  wider. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY    OF    MECHANICAL    LABOR. 

THE  MECHANIC  IN  GREECE  —  IN  ROME  —  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  GERMAN-S- 
ON THE  MEDIAEVAL  ESTATES  —  DIFFERENTIATION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS 
AND  RISE  OF  CITIES  —  OFFICIAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  MECHANICS  — 
RISE  OF  THE  GUILDS  — CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  GUILD  SYSTEM  —  DIVI- 
SION INTO  MASTERS,  APPRENTICES  AND  JOURNEYMEN  —  PRIVILEGES  OF 
THE  GUILDS  —  DUTIES  OF  THE  GUJLDS  (a)  TO  THEIR  OWN  MEMBERS; 
(b)  TO  THE  GENERAL  PUBLIC  —  POLICE  AND  JUDICIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF 
THE  GUILDS  —  GRADUAL  RISE  OF  DISTINCT  SOCIAL  CLASSES  WITHIN 
THE  GUILD  —  THE  DIFFERENTIATION  OF  A  LABORING  CLASS  AND  THE 
CONSEQUENT  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  "LABOR  QJJESTION" — DEGENERA- 
TION OF  THE  GUILDS  —  SELFISH  POLICY  OF  THE  MASTERS  (a)  TOWARD 
THEIR  WORKMEN;  (b)  TOWARD  THE  PUBLIC  —  DEMAND  FOR  THE  ABOLI- 
TION OF  THE  GUILDS  IN  THE  INTEREST  (a)  OF  GENERAL  LIBERTY ;  (b)  OF 

THE  LABORER  HIMSELF;  (c)  OF  THE  LARGE  CAPITALIST  —  FALL  OF  THE 
GUILDS  AND  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  SYSTEM  OF  INDUSTRY. 


THE  preceding  chapter  was  chiefly  devoted  to  a  history 
ofj  agricultural  labor  in  England.  It  may  serve  also  as 
a  general  description  of  the  course  of  development  of  agri- 
cultural labor  in  modern  times  in  all  the  countries  of  Western 
Europe.  The  same  general  forces  have  been  at  work  in  these 
nations  for  more  than  one  thousand  years,  bringing  about 
the  same  general  result  in  all,  each  case  being,  however, 
somewhat  varied  owing  to  local  circumstances  and  influences. 
Many  of  the  laws  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter  ap- 
plied equally  to  laborers  in  the  mechanical  callings  and,  of 
course,  the  forces  and  influences  which  determined  the  con- 
dition of  the  agricultural  laborer  could  not  but  affect  in  the 
most  intimate  way  the  condition  and  welfare  of  the  mechanic. 
It  is  impossible  to  discuss  one  of  these  topics  without  touching 
upon  the  other  at  various  points.  But  there  are  certain 
features  in  the  history  of  mechanical  labor  which  make  it 
desirable  to  discuss  the  subject  somewhat  more  in  detail. 
Indeed,  in  order  to  understand  at  all  the  labor  legislation  and 

(21) 


22  THE    LAISOK    MOVKMKNT. 

labor  movements  of  the  last  and  present  century,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  comprehend  the  condition  of  things  which  preceded 
them  ;  and  we  cannot  do  this  without  a  glance,  at  least,  at  the 
previous  development  of  mechanical  labor  up  to  that  time. 

As  the  history  of  agricultural  labor  can  be  traced  most 
satisfactorily  in  the  case  of  England,  owing  to  the  greater 
wealth  of  annals,  accounts  and  other  materials  ;  so  that  of  the 
rise-  and  development  of  mechanical  labor  can  be  followed 
most  completely  in  the  history  of  the  Continent,  and  particu- 
larly of  Germany,  where  the  followers  of  these  trades  became 
at  one  time  the  freest  and  most  powerful  classes  of  society. 
The  free  cities  of  the  German  Empire,  which  played  such  an 
important  part  in  the  history  of  mediaeval  Europe,  owed  in 
many  cases  their  freedom  and  their  prosperity  to  the  handi- 
craftsmen who  constituted  the  bulk  of  their  population. 

We  know  but  little  of  the  condition  of  mechanical  labor 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  That  it  was  highly  de- 
veloped in  many  ways  we  may  be  sure  from  the  most  incon- 
testable of  all  evidence,  viz.,  the  products  of  their  industry 
and  art,  which  have  remained  in  many  respects  the  models  for 
all  subsequent  time.  We  know  from  the  writings  of  their 
philosophers  that  mechanical  labor  was  regarded  as  degrading 
and  was  performed  chiefly  by  slaves  and  the  lower  classes  of 
free  citizens.  We  have  very  good  evidence  that  the  artisans 
at  Rome,  /.  £.,  the  free  artisans,  were  organized  into  unions 
called  "  collegia,"  but  we  do  not  know  the  purposes  of  these 
associations  or  what  particular  rights  or  duties  they  had.  The 
condition  of  mechanical  labor  in  the  ancient  world,  however, 
has  only  a  historical  interest  for  us,  since  our  modern  system 
is  built  up  on  an  entirely  different  basis  which  has  been  but 
slightly  modified  by  the  system  or  habits  of  the  ancients. 
Kvcn  if  the  mediaeval  trade  guilds  sprung  from  the  old  Roman 
"collegia"  and  the  modern  trades-unions  from  the  guild,  as 
many  claim,  yet  the  connection  between  the  first  two  is  so 
slight  and  the  influence  of  the  former  so  untraceable  that  the 
question  has  for  us  only  an  antiquarian  interest. 

The  history  of  mechanical  trades  among  the  Germans  may 
be  traced  back  to  a  time  before  the  rise  of  modern  nations. 


AMONG    THE    ANCIENT    GERMANS.  23 

In  the  earliest  period  of  German  history  of  which  we  know 
anything,  viz.,  that  which  preceded  the  attack  by  the  Germans 
on  the  Roman  Empire,  mechanical  labor,  with  the  single 
exception,  perhaps,  of  casting  and  forging,  had  not  become  a 
separate  calling  which  men  followed  for  the  sake  of  a  liveli- 
hood. Social  conditions  were  very  primitive.  The  houses 
were  mere  rude  hovels  which  it  did  not  require  much  skill  to 
construct,  and  the  furniture  was,  if  possible,  still  ruder.  The 
head  of  the  family  with  the  aid  of  his  slaves  and  the  members 
of  the  family  built  his  own  house,  made  his  own  furniture  and 
wove  his  own  cloth.  The  household  work,  such  as  spinning 
and  weaving,  fell  to  the  lot  01  the  women.  In  only  one 
department  does  it  seem  probable  that  separate  classes  of 
artisans  existed,  and  that  was  in  the  department  of  metal  work- 
ing. We  know  from  Roman  accounts  that  the  Germans  used 
weapons  of  iron  in  battle,  and  iron  utensils  in  the  worship  of 
the  gods.  To  produce  these  required  skilled  workmen,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  every  German  possessed  this 
skill. 

This  state  of  things  continued  to  exist  for  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  for  a  thousand  years,  at  least,  after  we  first  learn 
something  of  the  Germans  from  the  accounts  of  Caesar  and 
Tacitus.  When  the  Germans  issued  from  their  ancient  home 
beyond  the  Rhine,  and  in  one  campaign  after  another  con- 
quered the  Romans  and  broke  tlie  power  of  the  ancient  empire 
in  pieces  and  settled  themselves  down  in  the  fair  fields  of  what 
is  now  France,  Spain,  Italy  and  Greece  as  masters,  they  made 
large  numbers  of  the  Romans  their  slaves,  and  from  them 
learned  the  customs  and  habits  of  civilized  life.  When  the 
disintegrating  influences  of  this  period  of  conquest  had  done 
their  perfect  work  and  the  old  territory  of  the  Empire  was 
divided  into  almost  as  many  different  countries  as  there  were 
estates,  we  find  that,  although  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
still  remained  in  the  same  low  state  of  civilization  as  before, 
the  lords  themselves  had  acquired  a  taste  for  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  life  which  attend  a  developed  system  of  handi- 
crafts. The  great  feudal  lords  collected  on  their  own  estates 
artisans  acquainted  with  all  the  known  arts.  It  was  on  these 


24  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

estates  that  mechanical  labor  among  the  Germans  was  first 
divided  into  separate  callings.  But  in  this  early  period  there 
were  few,  if  any,  free  laborers  who  followed  these  callings  as 
a  means  of  earning  a  living.  The  mechanics  were  dependent 
persons,  bondmen  of  the  feudal  lords ;  and  they  worked  for 
their  masters,  just  as  other  serfs  and  bondmen,  according  to 
the  service  and  law  of  the  manor.  The  rise  of  this  new  class 
of  laborers  among  the  Germans  was  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  growth  of  the  feudal  system  and  the  gradual  spread  of 
civilization  among  the  conquerors.  A  large  number  of 
families  were  collected  on  these  great  estates  for  whose  wants 
(food,  clothing,  housing,  etc.)  the  lords  were  naturally  ex- 
pected to  provide.  The  latter  needed,  moreover,  for  the 
proper  defence  and  cultivation  of  such  an  estate,  a  large 
quantity  of  utensils,  instruments  and  arms.  The  wants  of 
the  lord  and  his  family  kept  increasing  in  number,  and  they 
kept  desiring  finer  quality  as  they  came  more  and  more  in 
contact  with  Roman  civilization  or  with  those  whom  Roman 
civilization  had  affected.  These  wants  could  only  be  satisfied 
by  increasing  skill  on  the  part  of  the  mechanics.  Many  of 
the  lords  took  great  trouble  to  purchase  skilled  mechanics 
from  distant  centers  and  import  them  for  work  on  their  own 
estates.  The  Emperor  Charlemagne,  who  at  one  time  ruled 
over  the  most  of  what  is  now  modern  Europe,  made  a  special 
effort  to  spread  abroad  through  his  realms  a  knowledge  of  the 
mechanic  arts  and  passed  a  law  that  on  all  royal  estates  there 
should  be  collected  a  sufficient  number  of  skilled  artisans. 

These  mechanics  usually  lived  about  the  household  of  their 
master,  and  received  from  them  what  they  needed  for  their 
living  and  performed  their  services  in  return.  One  portion  of 
the  mechanical  labor  about  the  court  of  the  lord,  viz.,  the 
making  of  cloth,  was  done  by  female  laborers  who  were 
brought  together  for  this  purpose  into  special  houses.  It  was 
at  the  courts  of  the  lords  that  the  first  official  organization  of 
the  mechanics  took  place.  In  order  to  supervise  them  and 
their  labor  more  easily  they  were  organized  into  small  so- 
cieties and  placed  under  control  of  a  court  officer  whose  busi- 
ness it  was  to  supervise  their  work  and  look  out  for  the  proper 


ON    THE    MEDIAEVAL,   ESTATES.  25 

training  of  the  children  for  their  future  calling  as  mechanics. 
There  was  no  trace  of  independence  in  these  bodies.  The 
individuals  had  no  right  to  choose  their  calling.  The  lord 
could  take  them  from  one  business  and  set  them  at  another  at 
his  own  pleasure.  Discipline  and  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  the 
regulation  of  the  labor  and  service,  pertained  to  the  officer 
appointed  by  the  lord.  There  is  no  evidence  that  they  had 
any  special  court  of  self-government  of  any  kind.  Occasion- 
ally some  unusually  able  mechanic  would  acquire  a  position 
of  influence  about  the  estate  and  would  acquire  a  certain 
degree  of  practical  freedom,  but  the  class  as  a  whole  was 
strictly  dependent,  subordinate  and  without  legal  rights  of  any 
kind,  /.  e.,  slaves. 

Some  of  the  mechanics,  probably  those  who  performed 
service  for  the  various  villages  on  the  estate,  lived  in  a  some- 
what freer  position.  In  many  cases  they  were  allowed  to 
cultivate  a  lot  of  land  on  their  own  account  and  were  bound 
only  to  perform  certain  services  to  the  lord  at  stated  times. 
That  which  was  at  first  a  mere  grant  of  the  lord  came  in 
course  of  time  to  be  considered  a  right  of  the  servant,  and  the 
holding  of  the  lot  of  land  and  the  following  of  the  trade 
became  a  hereditary  right,  and  thus  certain  trades  became  the 
privilege  of  certain  families.  In  the  course  of  time,  owing  to 
a  multitude  of  causes,  the  absolute  right  of  the  lord  over  his 
tenants  became  very  much  modified,  and  those  who  had  been 
slaves  became  assimilated  more  and  more  to  the  class  of  free 
tenants  which  was  described  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

It  seems  likely  that  there  were  also  free  mechanics  in  the 
few  free  communities  which  still  existed,  who  combined  the 
following  of  a  trade  with  the  pursuit  of  farming.  Out  of 
these  three  classes  of  mechanics,  viz.,  the  free  mechanics  in 
the  free  communities,  the  serf  mechanics  in  the  household  of 
the  lord  and  the  tenant  mechanics  on  the  estates  of  the  lords, 
sprang  the  modern  class  of  mechanics. 

The  process  by  which  this  took  place  is  too  long  and  intri- 
cate to  be  adequately  described  in  this  connection,  but  two  or 
three  of  the  more  important  causes  may  be  mentioned.  The 
chief  circumstance  in  this  new  development,  which  began 


26  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

about  the  eleventh  century,  was  the  rise  of  cities.  The  origin 
of  the  leading  cities  which  played  the  most  important  part  in 
this  period  was  very  various.  Owing  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  time  it  was  easy  for  any  band  of  men  who  would  combine 
and  entrench  themselves  in  some  stronghold  to  develop  an 
independent  city,  if  they  could  hold  their  own  against  the 
strong  barons  and  knights  who  were  always  quarreling  among 
themselves.  In  some  cases  the  lords  encouraged  the  growth 
of  the  villages  on  their  estates  by  offering  special  encourage- 
ments to  foreign  laborers  to  immigrate  and  to  the  artisans  on 
other  estates  to  run  away  from  their  masters,  offering  them  in 
many  cases  a  large  degree  of  liberty.  In  course  of  time  these 
villages,  enlarged  and  fortified,  felt  themselves  strong  to  de- 
mand a  greater  share  of  liberty  from  their  masters,  and  in 
case  these  refused  they  often  declared  their  independence  and 
maintained  it  through  long  and  stubborn  contests.  It  was  in 
these  cities  that  the  artisans  organized  themselves  into  the 
famous  unions  of  the  middle  ages  which  are  known  by  the 
name/'guilds/'  The  origin  of  these  guilds  is  not  known.  It 
would  be  idle  to  seek  any  one  source  for  them  perhaps.  The 
circumstances  of  the  time  were  favorable  to  the  development 
of  such  bodies  ;  and  as  with  one  accord  we  find  them  springing 
up  in  nearly  every  European  country,  Jthough  their  career  in 
Germany  was  the  most  successful  and  brilliant. 

We  cannot  follow  the  rise  and  development  of  the  system 
of  guilds  in  detail.  Their  rise  dates  from  the  twelfth  century, 
in  a  few  cities  and  a  few  callings.  In  the  thirteenth  and  four- 
teenth centuries  they  became  more  numerous,  and  in  the 
fifteenth  century  the  system  becomes  almost  universal  in  all 
Continental  and  English  cities  and  embraces  all  callings. 
The  history  of  the  guilds  was  very  different  in  different  cities 
and  in  different  branches  of  trade,  conditioned  largely  by  the 
political  development  of  the  city.  But  in  spite  of  all  the  differ- 
ences in  detail  the  guilds  in  the  German  cities  toward  the  close 
of  the  middle  ages  formed  an  organization  of  industrial  labor 
with  a  homogeneous  natare,  with  similar  ultimate  aims  and 
purposes  and  with  a  similar  social  and  economic  significance. 

There    were    many  different   classes  of  guilds,  but   those 


THE    SYSTEM    OF    CRAFT-GUILDS.  2/ 

which  chiefly  interest  us  in  this  connection  are  the  craft-guilds. 
These  craft-guilds  were,  according  to  Professor  Schoenberg, 
who  has  made  special  investigations  into  their  history,  fraternal 
unions  of  the  mechanical  laborers  (in  the  rule,  belonging  to 
one  branch  of  industry),  for  the  promotion  of  their  common 
interests.  The  most  prominent  was  their  social  and  economic 
interest,  though  they  did  not  by  any  means  neglect  their 
political  or  other  interests.  They  were,  however,  not  merely 
unions  of  laborers  for  their  private  purposes,  but  they  were 
recognized  organs  of  the  city  government.  With  the  approval 
and  under  the  supervision  of  the  city  authorities  they  could 
issue  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  their  particular  branches 
of  trade  which  were  binding  on  all  mechanics  of  that  branch 
in  the  city.  They  were  entrusted  by  the  city  with  the  execu- 
tion of  city  ordinances  in  regard  to  trade,  and  were  held 
responsible  for  their  enforcement. 

The  following  features  were  characteristic  of  the  guild 
system  when  it  was  in  its  flourishing  period.  It  was  based,  in 
the  first  place,  on  a  legal  division  of  its  members  into  three 
classes  of  masters,  journeymen  and  apprentices.  The  masters 
were  the  members  in  full  standing,  the  journeymen  and  ap- 
prentices were  the  minor  members  who  were  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  guild-masters  as  a  corporation.  They  were 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  guilds  not  only  in  matters 
pertaining  to  the  trade,  but  also  in  their  disputes  with  one 
another  or  with  the  masters  and  in  all  violations  of  the  custom 
or  honor  of  the  guild.  The  journeymen  and  apprentices 
were  usually  members  of  the  master's  household.  They  were 
personally  free.  The  access. to  each  class  was  regulated  by  a 
detailed  body  of  rules  and  was  dependent  on  certain  con- 
ditions. The  apprenticeship  and  journeymanship  formed  a 
preparatory  stage,  a  school  for  the  mastership.  The  journey- 
men did  not,  in  the  earlier  period,  at  least,  form  a  separate 
class  by  themselves  whose  members  could  only  follow  their 
calling  as  dependent  laborers ;  but  were  merely  those  who 
had  not  yet  finished  their  preparatory  training  or  did  not 
desire  to  become  masters,  or  who  had  not  been  able  to  fulfill 
the  conditions  of  the  mastership. 


28  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  right  to  follow  a  trade  as  a  master  was,  as  a  rule,  de- 
pendent on  membership  in  the  guild  to  which  the  trade 
belonged.  This  was  called  the  guild-right,  and  was  nothing 
more  than  the  right  granted  to  the  guild  of  forcing  every  one 
who  wished  to  practice  the  trade  to  join  the  guild.  In  later 
times,  when  the  guild  decided  upon  the  admission  of  new 
members,  this  privilege  was  extended  in  some  places  so  as  to 
include  the  right  to  refuse  membership  to  any  one  whom  they 
did  not  wish  and  thus  prevent  him  from  pursuing  the  trade  in 
the  city.  In  most  places,  however,  the  city  authorities  re- 
served the  right  to  grant  license  to  non-members  of  the  guilds 
to  follow  their  handicraft  in  the  city. 

Mastership  in  the  guild  was  dependent  on  the  proof  of 
certain  qualifications  on  the  part  of  the  applicant,  both  as 
respecting  his  moral  character  and  his  technical  skill.  They 
demanded  a  spotless  reputation  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  business.  The  method  of  acquiring  the  skill  was  not  at 
first  regulated  by  guild  rule,  but  in  course  of  time  it  was  pre- 
scribed that  every  one  who  wished  to  become  master  must 
serve  a  period  as  apprentice  and  afterwards  as  journeyman. 
The  qualifications  were  gradually  raised  so  that  it  was  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  for  the  average  man  to  comply  with 
them.  Legally,  however,  every  one  who  could  become  an 
apprentice  could  also  become  master  by  fulfilling  the  con- 
ditions. 

The  .right  to  employment,  the  protection  of  guild-labor,  and 
an  assured  market  were  secured  by  certain  privileges  con- 
ferred on  the  guild.  Every  guild  had  the  monopoly  of  certain 
kinds  of  mechanical  labor  as  its  specified  field  of  production, 
and  only  its  members  had,  as  such,  the  right  to  make  or  sell 
those  products  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city.  This  was  a 
privilege  which  the  individual  guild  had  not  only  against 
foreign  laborers  but  also  against  the  merchants  and  dealers 
and  other  craft-guilds.  But  it  was  not  intended  that  the  wel- 
fare of  the  city  should  suffer  by  this  monopoly.  The  right 
carried  with  it  the  corresponding  duty  to  see  that  the  consumer 
received  good  wares  or  services  at  a  reasonable  price.  If  the 
guild  did  not  do  this  the  city  authorities  might  at  any  time 


STRICT    GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    GUILDS.  29 

introduce  foreign  laborers  or  give  to  its  merchants  the  right  to 
sell  foreign  goods  in  the  city.  In  order  that  consumers  might 
not  suffer,  market  days  and  times  were  established  when  out- 
side mechanics  might  offer  their  wares  for  sale,  provided  that 
they  complied  with  the  same  conditions  as  those  imposed  on 
local  mechanics. 

With  the  design  of  securing  for  the  individual  laborer  an 
independent  existence  and  a  sufficient  income  and  creating  an 
honorable  and  worthy  class  of  mechanics,  and  on  the  other 
hand  of  guarding  the  interests  of  consumers  by  a  proper 
organization  of  labor  a  whole  system  of  regulations  gov- 
erning the  action  of  the  guild  members  was  adopted,  which 
was  characteristic  of  the  guilds.  They  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes,  those  in  the  interest  of  producers  and  those  in  the 
interest  of  consumers.  The  measures  in  the  interest  of  con- 
sumers aim  at  securing  a  good  quality  and  a  fair  price  for 
commodities  and  services.  The  care  for  this  was  entrusted  to 
the  guild.  The  first  condition  of  good  service  is  good  train- 
ing ;  and  this  was  required,  as  we  have  seen,  before  entering 
the  guild.  In  addition  to  this,  regulations  were  adopted  in 
regard  to  the  method  and  manner  of  production,  prescribing 
the  material  to  be  employed,  and  the  method  of  its  use,  form, 
size  and  quality  of  the  product.  Fines  and  bodily  punish- 
ments were  threatened  for  violation  of  these  provisions.  Very 
severe  punishments  were  inflicted  for  the  manufacture  or  sale 
of  bad  wares  or  for  cheating.  Poor  commodities  were  confis- 
cated and  destroyed.  Regular  visitation  of  the  shops,  in- 
spection of  the  individual  masters  while  at  work,  examination 
of  the  manufactured  commodity  by  the  guild  inspectors,  com- 
pulsory marking  of  manufactured  commodities  with  the  name 
of  the  manufacturer,  and  many  similar  regulations  made  the 
way  of  the  slovenly  or  dishonest  workmen  a  hard  one. 
Undue  delay  with  the  work  was  also  punishable  and  the  guild 
police  watched  over  the  conduct  of  its  members  toward  the 
public.  A  fair  price  was  secured  by  fixing  the  price  of  the 
manufactured  or  partially  manufactured  article  or  service. 

This  regulation  of  industry  aimed  also  at  securing  to  the 
guild  members  an  income  suitable  to  their  social  position  and 


3O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

an  independent  business.  The  idea  of  fraternity,  moreover, 
•was  to  be  realized  among  the  members  and  the  difference  be- 
tween the  rich  and  the  poor  was  to  be  kept  as  slight  as  possi- 
ble, and  the  poor  were  to  be  properly  cared  for.  The 
necessary  consequence  of  all  this  was  the  exclusion  of  com- 
petition among  the  members  and  a  far  reaching  restriction  of 
the  individual  in  production  and  of  the  market  in  the  interests 
of  the  guild  as  a  whole,  They  took  care  to  hinder  the  growth 
of  large  capital  as  far  as  possible  by  a  complicated  series  of 
regulations  which  aimed  at  making  large  business  compara- 
tively unprofitable.  They  aimed  at  restricting  capital  as  a 
factor  of  production  and  a  source  of  income  within  very  nar- 
row limits,  and  tried  to  make  the  income  of  mechanics  chiefly 
the  income  of  labor. 

In  order  to  carry  out  these  rules  and  regulations  the  guilds 
were  entrusted  with  very  extensive  police  and  judicial  func- 
tions, though  they  were  much  greater  in  some  places  than  in 
others.  All  disputes  between  guild  members,  no  matter  on 
what  subject,  had  to  be  taken  before  the  guild  court  before 
they  could  be  taken  before  the  ordinary  courts. 

There  is  but  little  doubt  that  the  guild  system  was  of  great 
advantage,  not  only  to  the  laborers  but  also  to  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  mediaeval  industry.  It  quickened  the  best  elements  of 
the  time  and  was  a  most  judicious  and  happy  form  of  the  or- 
ganization of  industry,  with  the  great  merit  of  being  fully  in 
harmony  with  the  other  institutions  of  the  time.  But  it  was 
by  no  means  a  system  which  did  away  with  all  conflict  of  in- 
terest between  the  various  classes  within  the  system  itself,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  large  masses  of  labor  outside  of  the  organ- 
ization. It  can  be  easily  seen  that  the  tendency  of  the  system 
was  toward  monopoly  ;  not  only  monopoly  of  trade  and  busi- 
ness by  the  guild,  as  distinguished  from  outsiders,  but  also 
monopoly  of  the  masterships  within  the  guilds  by  a  few  indi- 
viduals and  families,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  great  mass  of 
members. 

From  the  rise  of  mechanical  industry  in  the  cities  until  the 
time  when  the  guilds  succeeded  in  obtaining  independence  in 
the  management  of  industrial  affairs,  /.  e.  in  general,  until  the 


A   TRANSITION    PERIOD.  3! 

middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  there  was,  according  to  Pro- 
fessor Brentano,  no  special  class  of  laborers  as  distinguished 
from  the  masters.  The  journeymanship,  so  far  as  it  existed 
at  that  time,  was  only  one  stage  in  the  life  of  an  artisan,  not  a 
special  calling  followed  by  particular  persons.  It  was  a 
transition  period  on  the  way  to  a  mastership.  But  it  did  not 
exist  at  all  in  most  places  before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  This  was  owing  to  the  character  of  the  mechanical 
industry  of  the  time.  The  trades  were  chiefly  local  industries 
and  were  carried  on  for  the  most  part,  if  not  entirely,  by  na- 
tive born  inhabitants  of  the  cities.  An  inflow  of  laborers  and 
an  overcrowding  of  the  trades  was  thus  made  impossible. 
The  guilds  of  that  time  were  not  "close,''  /.  £.,  neither  the 
number  of  masters  was  limited  nor  was  it  difficult  to  become 
a  master  by  reason  of  any  undue  restrictions.  The  masters 
themselves  were,  moreover,  chiefly  laborers  themselves,  for, 
although  it  was  necessary  to  have  some  capital  in  order  to  start 
in  as  a  master,  yet  the  amount  demanded  was  very  small  and 
was  within  the  reach  of  almost  everyone.  In  consequence  of 
this,  the  apprentices,  as  soon  as  they  had  learned  their  busi- 
ness, commenced  immediately  as  masters  and  very  few  of  them 
served  as  journeymen.  What  few  journeymen  there  were 
soon  became  masters  themselves,  so  that  in  spite  of  the  author- 
ity vested  by  the  law  in  the  master  over  the  journeyman  where 
he  existed,  there  was  no  social  difference  between  the  two 
classes,  no  conflict  of  interests  and  consequently  no  distinct 
social  class. 

The  only  exception  to  this  state  of  things  was  in  such 
branches  of  industry,  few  in  number,  as  were  prosecuted 
from  an  early  period  on  a  large  scale  or  those  in  which  from 
other  causes  as,  for  instance,  cost  of  material,  a  large  capital 
was  necessary.  Among  such  branches  was  the  manufacture 
of  cloth  ;  and  we  learn  that  at  an  'early  period,  in  certain  cities 
of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  there  were  enormous  numbers  of 
weavers  crowded  together  in  an  incredible  conditition.  It  was 
in  this  branch,  too,  that  there  first  came  into  existence  a  large 
class  who  had  no  hopes  of  ever  becoming  independent  work- 
men, /'.  c.,  that  a  class  of  laborers  arose.  But  this  class  does 


32  TIIK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

not  seem  to  have  been  completely  within  the  power  of  the 
masters.  They  had  large  labor  unions  as  far  back  as  the 
thirteenth  century.  Two  of  the  four  directors  of  the  guild 
were  always  journeymen.  Journeymen  were  members  of  the 
body  which  issued  regulations  in  regard  to  guild  matters. 
The  wages  of  the  journeymen  were  regulated  in  proportion  to 
the  reward  of  the  masters,  and  in  some  instances  in  such  a 
way  as  must  have  given  the  journeymen  a  regular  participa- 
tion in  profits.  Even  in  those  cases  where  the  inspecting  body 
consisted  entirely  of  nobles,  no  regulation  was  issued  without 
first  hearing  the  ideas  of  the  journeymen  unions  on  the 
subject. 

The  harmony  of  these  relations  became  disturbed  more  and 
more  as  the  guilds  became  richer  and  more  independent,  as 
they  got  the  power  more  and  more  completely  of  determining 
the  rules  of  their  respective  trades  and  as  larger  and  larger 
quantities  of  capital  became  necessary  to  prosecute  the  trade. 
The  rapid  growth  of  the  industries,  particularly  that  of  cloth 
manufacture,  and  the  great  amount  of  capital  expended,  at- 
tracted great  masses  of  serfs  from  the  rural  districts  tp  the 
cities.  In  this  way  the  increased  number  of  laborers,  which 
the  continued  growth  of  industry  made  necessary,  was  ob- 
tained, and,  on  the  other  hand,  every  new  laborer  became  a 
possible  competitor.  The  profit  of  the  capital  already  ex- 
pended was  thus  made  uncertain.  The  anxiety  of  the  masters 
was  thus  excited,  and  as  the  regulation  of  industrial  affairs 
gradually  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  guilds,  the  masters  of 
the  latter  kept  introducing  new  restrictions  in  order  to  keep 
down  the  rising  families  who  threatened  their  position.  High 
apprentice  fees,  a  long  period  of  apprenticeship,  a  long  period 
as  journeyman,  wandering  of  the  journeymen  from  place  to 
place ;  during  this  time  costly  masterpieces  and  expensive 
master  banquets  were  demanded.  In  consequence  of  these 
regulations  it  soon  became  impossible  for  any  one  to  become 
master  and  carry  on  the  trade  independently  who  was  not  al- 
ready in  the  possession  of  property,  or  was  the  son  of  a  master, 
or  did  not  marry  the  daughter  or  widow  of  a  master.  Instead 
of  the  original  requirement  for  a  mastership,  viz.,  personal 


FORMATION    OF    SPECIAL.    UNIONS.  33 

worth  And  skill  of  the  individual,  they  now  demanded  capital 
or  family  connection.  The  various  trades  became  more  and 
more  the  vested  property  of  a  number  of  families,  and  this 
tendency,  once  started,  grew  in  the  next  century  with  ever  in- 
creasing rapidity. 

This  degeneration  of  the  guild  could  not  fail  to  have  a  very 
decided  effect  on  the  condition  of  the  laborer.  As  already 
stated  the  number  of  these  laborers  increased  very  rapidly, 
just  about  the  time  that  the  guilds  began  their  policy  of  re- 
striction, by  a  large  and  growing  immigration  from  the 
country.  This  flight  to  the  cities  was  about  the  only  means 
open  to  a  serf  upon  a  great  estate  to  get  rid  of  the  bondage  in 
which  he  lived,  without  the  consent  of  his  master,  as  it  was  a 
law  that  a  serf  who  remained  in  a  city  for  a  year  and  a  day 
without  being  claimed  by  the  lord  was  a  freeman.  The  re- 
strictions adopted  prevented,  of  course,  the  most  of  these 
laborers  from  becoming  masters  ;  and  the  course  which  the 
masters  took  of  following  out  exclusively  their  own  interests, 
could  not  fail  to  call  into  existence  a  similar  spirit  on  the  part 
of  the  journeymen.  Toward  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
we  find  plain  signs  that  such  a  separation  of  interests  had,  at 
least,  begun  in  the  formation  by  the  journeymen  of  special 
journeymen's  unions. 

The  earliest  references  which  we  can  find  in  regard  to  these 
unions  do  not  say  that  they  occupied  themselves  from  the  first 
with  the  regulation  of  the  industrial  interests  of  the  members. 
If  we  may  conclude  from  this  that  they  did  not  do  this,  we 
may  also  conclude  that  it  was  because  the  organization  of  the 
guilds  was,  at  first,  sufficient  to  protect  these  interests  without 
any  special  action  of  the  journeymen  within  their  own  organi- 
zations. At  any  rate  it  is  evident  that  the  guild  had  ceased 
to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  journeymen  in  other  respects. 
Whereas  the  guilds  had  originally  united  all  members,  masters 
and  journeymen,  together  for  common  religious  and  social  ser- 
vices, banquets,  etc.,  and  had  taken  care  equally  of  all  poor 
and  sick,  whether  masters  or  journeymen,  it  may  be  taken  as  a 
pretty  good  proof  of  the  aristocratic  separation  of  the  classes 
that  now  these  journeymen  unions  are  formed  for  these  pur- 

(3) 


34  THE    LABOR    MOVKMENT. 

poses.  And  where,  as  it  often  happened,  the  masters,  now 
grown  fat  and  ease-loving,  shifted  the  military  burdens  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  journeymen,  the  organization  of  the  latter 
for  military  purposes  must  have  encouraged  the  growth  of 
these  unions.  But  after  the  custom  became  universal,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  that  the  journeymen  should  wander  from  city 
to  city  for  a  term  of  years,  it  became  necessary  that  there 
should  be  some  organization  to  take  care  of  poor  journeymen 
and  afford  the  wanderers  food,  shelter  and  protection.  Thus 
the  journeymen  unions  seem  to  have  been  at  first,  as  a  rule,  a 
sort  of  supplement  of  the  guild ;  and  while  the  industrial  inter- 
ests of  this  class  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently  cared  for  by 
the  guild,  the  religious,  social  and  eleemosynary  wants  of  the 
journeymen  were  provided  for  by  their  own  unions. 

But  this  separation  of  master  and  journeyman  could  not 
long  remain  without  some  influence  on  the  labor  relations  of 
the  latter.  The  authority  of  the  master  over  the  journeyman, 
even  where  it  was  abused,  would  seem  bearable  as  long  as 
every  journeyman  had  prospect  of  soon  becoming  master  him- 
self. But  so  soon  as  the  journeymanship  became  a  life-calling 
it  became  intolerable  that  the  master  should  strive  to  keep 
wages  down;  should -cheat  him  out  of  the  wages  he  had 
agreed  to  give,  by  paying  in  truck  instead  of  in  money ; 
should  keep  him  in  dependence,  by  encouraging  him  to  run 
in  debt  to  him,  and  thus  prevent  him  from  ever  rising  to  the 
level  of  a  worthy  workman.  As  early  as  the  second  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century  we  find  traces  of  attempts  on  the  part 
of  the  masters  to  debase  the  condition  of  the  journeymen  by 
the  occupation  of  excessive  numbers  of  apprentices.  As  time 
passed  on  the  guilds  became  more  and  more,  associations  of 
masters  which  used  their  journeymen  as  mere  instruments  by 
which  to  increase  their  own  wealth  and  power. 

In  opposition  to  this  the  brotherhoods  for  religious,  social 
and  eleemosynary  purposes  became  the  cloak  under  which 
the  journeymen  concealed  a  union  for  the  protection  of  their 
own  economic  and  other  class  interests.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  fourteenth  century  we  find  repeated  complaints  on  the 
part  of  the  masters  that  journeymen  under  pretense  of  religious 


UNIONS    AMONG   JOURNEYMEN.  35 

and  social  organizations  united  themselves  together  to  force  up 
the  rate  of  wages,  and  that  attempts  by  the  masters  to  repress 
these  unions,  even  though  made  by  several  guilds  of  different 
cities  together,  had  not  been  at  all  successful.  The  efforts 
of  these  journeymen's  unions  did  not  aim  at  the  equality  of 
master  and  journeyman  and  the  acknowledgment  of  equal 
honor  for  both  classes ;  such  an  effort  was  not  suited  to  that 
time.  Corresponding  to  the  general  line  of  development  of 
the  middle  ages,  what  they  aimed  at  was  a  special  journeyman 
law  and  a  particular  journeyman  honor  and  spirit  as  a  security 
against  contempt  and  arbitrary  acts  of  power.  The  particu- 
lar things  which  they  demanded  varied  with  different  con- 
ditions ;  but  in  general  they  attempted  to  gain  an  influence  in 
determining  the  relation  of  labor  and  service,  particularly  to 
keep  up  wages  and  control  the  matter  of  apprentices  and  to 
regulate  the  movement  of  labor.  In  order  to  get  these  ends 
they  tried  to  secure  a  representation  of  the  journeymen  in  the 
directorate  of  the  guilds.  In  order  to  obtain  this  they  resorted 
to  strikes ;  and  even  where  they  were  represented  in  the  guilds 
they  often  resorted  to  the  same  means  to  carry  through  their 
measures.  In  those  branches  in  which  the  conditions  of  the 
time  favored  the  application  of  large  capital  and  numerous 
laborers  who  had  no  prospect  of  ever  becoming  masters,  like 
the  woolen  industry  in  England,  France  and  Germany,  there 
were  great  strikes  in  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century 
which  differ  from  those  of  the  nineteenth  century  only  in  the 
time  of  their  occurence,  and  in  the  following  centuries  we  find 
such  strikes  in  all  branches  of  industry. 

It  thus  appears  that,  contrary  to  a  widely  received  opinion, 
the  guilds  not  only  did  not  solve  the  labor  question,  but  that 
the  labor  question  arose  in  just  the  same  proportion  as  the 
guilds  flourished.  In  all  places  and  in  all  industries  in  the 
same  proportion  as  the  industries  improved  in  technics  and 
wealth  and  the  guilds  became  more  independent  in  the  regu- 
lation of  industrial  relations,  a  separation  took  place  among 
the  members  of  the  guild.  The  masters  used  the  autonomy 
which  they  had  acquired  in  the  regulation  of  the  industry  to 
limit  with  one  hand  competition,  by  making  it  difficult  to 


36  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

become  master,  and  to  regulate  the  conditions  of  the  laborers 
with  the  other  exclusively  in  the  interests  of  the  masters- 
This  policy  aroused  in  the  laborers,  who  had  now  no  chance 
of  becoming  masters  and  of  carrying  on  the  business  inde- 
pendently, the  consciousness  of  peculiar  clasrs  interests  and 
wants.  There  arose  the  class  of  masters  and  the  class  of 
laborers,  and  with  them  the  labor  question.  The  question 
then  arose  how  shall  the  wants  of  this  laboring  class  be  best 
satisfied.  The  journeymen  formed  their  unions  for  the  pro- 
tection of  their  interests  within  and  by  the  side  of  the  guilds  ; 
and  the  demands  which  they  made  for  the  furtherance  of  their 
interests  led,  at  an  early  period,  to  quarrels  which  bear  a  close 
resemblance  to  the  labor  difficulties  of  to-day.  This  was  so 
generally  true  that  wherever  in  the  fourteenth  century  we 
find  no  traces  of  such  troubles  or  such  special  unions,  we  may 
take  it  for  granted  that  in  that  place  and  in  that  industry  the 
relations  were  so  little  developed  that  as  yet  the  separation 
between  the  masters  and  journeymen  had  not  taken 'place,  and 
that  there  was  consequently  no  great  difference  of  interests. 

The  system  of  regulating  the  relations  of  labor  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  labor  question,  and  particularly  the  system  of  meas- 
ures in  favor  of  unemployed  and  indigent  journeymen,  did  not 
rest  upon  the  legal  equality  of  master  and  journeyman  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  latter  for  his  own  welfare.  The  relation 
of  master  to  journeyman  was  one  of  authority.  The  masters 
in  a  guild,  as  a  whole,  were  the  rulers  of  the  journeymen. 
The  journeyman  was  a'  member  of  the  guild,  it  is  true,  but  he 
was  a  subject  member.  The  guild  regulated  the  wages  of  the 
journeyman  and  the  other  conditions  of  labor.  But  this  posi- 
tive authority  was  limited  by  the  power  of  these  journeymen 
unions,  and,  out  of  the  struggles  of  the  latter  for  their  objects 
there  was  developed  in  the  course  of  time  a  peculiar  body  of 
laws  and  privileges  which  secured  the  laborer  against  despot- 
ism and  contempt.  And  just  as  the  individual  laborer  was 
not  dependent  on  the  individual  master  for  the  amount  of  his 
wages,  so  the  union  secured  for  him  employment  by  regulat- 
ing the  number  of  apprentices  in  proportion  to  journeymen,  by 
acknowledging  the  right  of  the  unemployed  to  employment,  by 


PROTECTION  FOR  THE  LABORERS.         .    37 

securing  labor  for  the  stranger  or  granting  assistance  to  the 
journeyman  who  wished  to  go  further  and  by  assisting  the 
laborer  who  could  not  find  employment.  The  journeymen 
were  required  to  pay  a  part  of  their  wages  into  the  treasury  of 
their  unions  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  their  expenses.  The 
guild  was  required  to  assist  the  unions  where  they  could  not 
pay  all  these  expenses  themselves.  This  was  recognized  to  be 
the  proper  thing,  since  the  masters  had  limited  to  their  own 
advantage  the  opportunity  of  the  laborer  to  rise  to  the  position 
of  master.  If  all  these  means  of  assistance  failed,  and  an  indi- 
vidual could  not  get  help  from  them,  there  still  remained  the 
church,  which  possessed,  at  this  time,  a  large  part  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  community,  and  which  was  bound  to  help  the 
poor. 

This  system  of  industrial  organization  existed  in  Germany 
from  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  to  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth,  and,  indeed,  in  the  free  cities,  where  the  author- 
ity in  industrial  matters  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  guilds 
much  longer  than  elsewhere,  to  a  much  later  date.  A  simi- 
lar system  existed  in  prance  for  the  same  period,  but  in  En- 
gland the  journeymen's  unions  never  got  the  strong  hold  which 
they  obtained  on  the  continent.  The  system  took  a  somewhat 
different  form  wherever  the  government  became  strong 
enough  to  take  the  regulation  of  industrial  matters  into  its  own 
hands.  This  took  place  in  several  European  countries  toward 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

As  a  rule  the  government  approved  the  general  system  de- 
veloped by  the  guild  and  extended  it  to  all  forms  of  new  in- 
dustry as  well.  But  there  was  a  great  difference  between  the 
management  of  the  two  systems.  The  regulation  of  the 
labor  relations  was  no  longer  entrusted  to  the  guilds,  which 
kept  following  more  and  more  closely  the  exclusive  interests 
of  the  masters,  whose  number  had  now  been  limited,  but  to  in- 
specting authorities  who  belonged  to  neither  party,  or  were 
entrusted  to  the  guilds  under  the  supervision  of  the  authori- 
ties. Thus  the  rate  of  wages  was  fixed  by  the  government 
officers.  The  length  of  the  working  day  was  fixed  by  the 
same  authority.  In  the  same  way  the  length  of  the  period  of 


38  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

apprenticeship  of  journeymen,  the  conditions  of  the  labor 
contract,  etc.,  were  fixed  by  law  or  by  officers  representing 
the  government.  Only  apprentices  who  had  finished  their  ap- 
prenticeship could  be  employed  as  laborers.  Journeymen 
had  a  right  to  employment  if  there  was  any,  and  the  right  to 
support,  for  a  certain  time,  if  there  was  no  work,  and  assist- 
ance to  go  elsewhere.  On  the  other  hand,  as  correlatives  of 
these  rights,  the  government  insisted  that  the  laborers  should 
not  strike,  that  they  should  take  work  under  the  legal  condi- 
tions, wherever  there  was  work,  and  should  pay  contributions 
for  the  support  of  their  poor  brethren. 

When  the  church  became  too  poor  to  support  the  indigent, 
owing  to  the  secularization  of  its  estates,  and  the  Christian 
and  Germanic  idea  of  property  as  a  trust  connected  with  du- 
ties gave  place  to  the  Roman  idea  of  it  as  a  subjective  right, 
the  state  undertook  to  look  after  the  poor  who  had  no  claims 
on  the  assistance  of  any  union  or  society.  By  means  of  the 
poor  tax  it  collected  from  those  who  were  benefited  by  the 
guild  restrictions  (such  as  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  settle- 
ment, the  regulation  of  wages  and  prohibitions  of  labor  coali- 
tions) the  means  of  supporting  those  who,  although  unable 
to  work,  had  no  opportunity  of  looking  out  for  themselves 
owing  to  the  restrictions  on  labor. 

If  we  disregard  those  who  by  these  restrictions  on  entering 
the  trade  were  prevented  from  earning  their  living  as  laborers 
in  these  callings,  it  is  pretty  evident  that  those  who  once  got 
into  the  trade  had  an  assured  existence  so  long  as  the  above 
provisions  were  carried  out.  The  provisions  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  apprentices,  the  limitation  of  labor  to  those  who 
had  actually  served  the  apprenticeship  period,  the  right  of  the 
journeymen  to  work  if  it  was  to  be  had,  made  it  pretty  certain 
that  those  journeymen  who  had  passed  through  the  period  of 
training  would  secure  employment.  The  long  period  of  the 
engagements  secured  to  them  regular  employment,  no  matter 
what  the  condition  of  the  trade.  The  officials  were  directed 
to  fix  the  rate  of  wages  so  that  the  laborer  should  have  suf- 
ficient, as  well  in  times  of  scarcity  as  in  times  of  plenty.  All 
this  secured  to  the  laborer  a  regularity  in  his  income  which 


A    CENTURY    OF    REBELLIONS.  39 

enabled  him  to  pay  his  contributions  for  the  support  of  the 
unemployed  or  sick  laborer.  With  all  this  the  working  hours 
were  not  excessively  long,  especially  as  the  work  itself  was 
not  so  exacting  as  that  of  to-day.  If  we  consider,  finally, 
that  the  paternal  treatment  which  the  laborer  received  at  the 
hands  of  the  government  was  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of 
the  time  and  was  extended  to  the  employer  as  well,  and  that 
this  similar  treatment  of  the  two  classes  corresponded  to  the 
growing  demand  for  equality,  we  may  well  believe  that  this 
system  of  the  organization  of  labor  answered  the  demands  of 
the  laborers  of  that  time  very  fairly.  It  is  true  that  in  spite  of 
all  prohibitions  to  the  contrary  there  were  numerous  strikes 
during  the  eighteenth  century,  so  that  it  has  been  called  the 
century  of  journeymen  rebellions.  Yet  it  is  highly  probable 
that,  although  some  may  have  grown  out  of  the  fact  that  the 
laborers  did  not  secure  new  concessions  which  they  were 
working  for,  the  most  of  them  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  the 
customary  or  legal  organization  of  industry  was  being  broken 
through  in  all  directions  by  those  who  were  powerful  enough 
to  do  so  with  impunity. 

In  this  way  the  wants  and  interests  of  those  who  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  ranks  of  the  mechanical  laborers  were  fairly  pro- 
vided for.  But  the  exclusion  of  so  many  from  any  opportunity 
to  enter  the  trades,  which  was  effected  by  this  system,  and  the 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  starting  an  independent  business, 
became  in  more  and  more  striking  contrast  to  the  wants  and 
feelings  of  the  time.  The  constant  persecutions  of  the  out- 
siders by  the  guilds  in  Germany  ;  occurrences  such  as  that  in 
France,  where,  in  consequence  of  a  denunciation  on  the  part  of 
the  guild,  a  married  journeyman  who  had  made  a  pair  of 
shoes  wrhile  hidden  in  a  barn  was  sent  to  the  galleys  ;  the 
hinderance  which  the  English  guilds  placed  in  the  way  of  the 
growth  of  large  industries;  and  the  cheating  of  the  public, 
which  finally  became  characteristic  of  the  guilds,  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  old  organization  of  labor  to  continue.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  system  of  caring  for  the  poor  had  also 
become  unbearable.  For  the  obligation  to  work  for  alms 
received  was  not  insisted  upon,  and  in  this  way  one  of  the 


40  THi:    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

most  efficient  motives  to  work  was  taken  away  altogether  frorp 
the  poorer  class  of  laborers,  and  the  poor  rates  were  increas- 
ing from  year  to  year  at  an  enormous  rate. 

The  complaints  about  the  heartless  policy  of  the  guilds 
began  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century  and  did  not  die  out 
until  the  guilds  themselves  died.  During  the  fifteenth  century 
the  abolition  of  the  guilds  was  demanded  on  this  ground. 
When  Henry  III.  of  France,  in  1581,  extended  the  provisions 
of  the  guilds  to  all  branches  of  mechanical  industry  in  France, 
the  Parliament  refused  at  first  to  register  the  edict.  In  1614, 
the  third  estate  in  France  moved  the  abolition  of  the  guilds  ; 
in  1624,  a  party  in  the  city  council  of  Bremen ;  in  1669,  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  in  the  German  Parliament,  made  the 
same  motion.  In  Prussia,  beginning  with  1688,  a  series  of 
laws  was  adopted  looking  toward  the  reformation  of  the  guilds 
in  the  direction  of  greater  freedom  and  in  the  interest  of  a 
growing  industry.  But  the  chief  attack  upon  the  old  guild 
system  came  on  its  theoretical  side  from  Adam  Smith  and  the 
French  Physiocrats. 

God,  said  the  physiocratic  school  of  economists,  made  the 
right  to  labor  the  property  of  every  person  by  giving  to  every 
one  wants  and  referring  him  to  labor  as  a  means  of  satisfying 
them.  This  property  is  the  first  in  order  of  time,  the  most 
holy  and  the  most  inalienable.  Owing  to  the  restrictions 
on  labor  maintained  by  the  guilds,  the  poor  are  condemned  to 
protract  a  precarious  existence  under  the  control  of  the 
masters,  to  linger  in  poverty  or  to  betake  themselves  and  their 
industry  to  foreign  lands.  Just  as  the  whole  existing  system 
of  law  had  proceeded  from  the  selfish  efforts  of  privileged 
classes,  who  resisted  every  reform,  so  in  making  the  regula- 
tions in  regard  to  organization  of  the  system  of  apprentices 
and  journeymen  the  councilors  of  the  government  had  always 
been  the  employers.  They  served  merely  to  secure  to  the 
masters  the  labor  of  the  apprentice  for  a  long  time  at  a  very 
low  rate  of  wages  or  for  no  wages  at  all ;  to  keep  down  the 
wages  of  the  journeyman  and  to  diminish  competition  by  lim- 
iting the  number  of  masters.  It  is  one  of  the  first  duties  of 
justice  to  free  those  whose  only  property  consists  in  the  skill 


FREEDOM    OF    THE    TRADES.  4! 

and  strength  of  their  hands  from  the  limitations  placed  upon 
them  by  the  guilds. 

The  pretended  care  of  the  state  for  the  welfare  of  the  labor- 
ers was,  according  to  this  view,  not  merely  a  piece  of  hypo- 
crisy but  a  shameless  presumption.  Self-interest  will  show 
everyone  what  is  best  for  his  own  welfare.  And  as  all  men 
are  by  nature  equal  and'  actuated  by  the  same  self-interest, 
the  greatest  happiness  of  each  one  and,  therefore,  of  all 
will  be  secured  as  soon  as  the  state  will  leave  each  one  un- 
disturbed to  the  guidance  of  his  own  self-interest  and  thus  let 
him  utilize  all  his  powers  and  capacities  in  the  best  way. 

Thus  natural  justice  and  economic  expediency  united  in 
demanding  the  freedom  of  labor  and  the  freedom  of  the  laborer. 
Above  everything,  therefore,  no  legal  limitation  on'  the  free- 
dom of  the  trades ;  then,  the  conversion  of  the  laborer  into 
a  free  merchant  of  the  commodity,  labor.  In  the  place  of  the 
previous  relation  of  laborer  and  master  should  be  put  a  purely 
contractual  relation,  and  in  place  of  the  subordination  of  the 
laborer,  he  should  be  placed  on  a  perfect  equality  with  the 
master  as  the  seller  of  a  commodity  which  the  latter  wishes. 
With  equal  rights  of  both  parties  to  make  such  contracts  as 
they  please,  there  should  be  no  interference  by  any  govern- 
ment officer  between  them. 

The  same  demand  for  freedom  of  industry  and  freedom 
of  contract  was  made  by  those  interested  in  the  large  in- 
dustry which  was  now  beginning  to  rise  in  England.  The 
guild  system  was  in  the  interest  of  the  small  employer,  and, 
so  far  as  he  did  not  desire  to  become  master,  in  the  interest  of 
journeyman  also ;  but  it  was  opposed  to  the  interest  of  the 
large  employer.  The  mere  requirement  that  a  man  should 
have  passed  through  an  apprenticeship,  and,  on  the  continent, 
a  journeymanship  also,  if  one  wished  to  take  up  a  branch  of 
manufacturing,  stood  greatly  in  the  way  of  those  who  wished 
to  utilize  their  capital  rather  than  their  personal  powers  in  the 
business.  But,  moreover,  those  who  had  passed  through  the 
apprenticeship  and  journeymanship  were  greatly  limited  in  the 
expansion  of  their  business  by  the  prohibition  of  the  employ- 
ment of  others  than  laborers  who  had  learned  the  business. 


42  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  long  period  of  engagement  might  be  of  advantage  to  the 
employer  as  long  as  he  worked  for  a  local  market  which  was 
subject  to  few  disturbances,  but  with  the  system  of  production 
for  a  distant  market  came  the  danger  of  gluts  in  the  market  which 
made  it  necessary  for  the  employer  to  be  able  to  dismiss  his  labor- 
ers at  short  notice.  Equally  inconsistent  with  the  interest  of  the 
great  manufacturer  was  the  provision  fixing  the  wages  for  a 
whole  industry,  since  he  wished  to  be  able  to  attract  quickly 
to  him  a  large  number  of  laborers  by  the  offer  of  high  wages 
in  order  to  increase  his  production ;  and  again,  by  a  reduc- 
tion of  wages,  to  make  it  possible  to  compete  with  a  rival  for 
the  possession  of  a  given  market.  When,  finally,  the  prog- 
ress in  machinery  began  in  earnest,  and  every  new  discovery 
made  the  old~  machines  worthless,  the  effort  of  the  manufac- 
turers to  make  the  most  of  the  capital  invested  in  a  machine 
by  increasing  the  length  of  the  working  day,  and  so  to  make 
the  out-put  as  large  as  possible  to  the  machine,  came  into 
conflict  with  the  laws  about  the  working  day.  By  all  the  pro- 
visions of  the  old  organization  of  labor  this  new  interest  found 
itself  hindered  in  its  development.  Its  desire  was  freedom  of 
industry  and  absence  of  every  governmental  interference  with 
the  contract  between  laborer  and  employer,  and  it  showed  it- 
self very  skillful  in  exploiting  for  its  own  uses  the  arguments 
of  Adam  Smith  for  the  same  thing  in  the  interest  of  the  labor- 
er, while  it  prevented,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  any  regard 
being  paid  to  other  demands  which  Smith  made  at  the  same 
time  to  secure  the  interests  of  the  laborer  in  the  new  state  of 
things. 

Thus  theory  and  pecuniary  and  class  interest  united  in  de- 
manding the  abolition  of  the  old  system.  In  the  different 
countries  different  considerations  and  occasions  gave  the  de- 
cisive impulse,  and  the  course  of  events  was  somewhat  pecu- 
liar in  each  country.  In  France  the  old  system  was  abolished 
in  that  memorable  nightof  Augustan,  1789,  which  saw  the  old 
regime,  in  so  many  departments,  swept  into  oblivion.  In  Ger- 
many, where  the  various  governments  had  made  many  changes 
in  the  old  system  in  the  interest  of  political  and  industrial 
progress,  Prussia  was  the  first  to  adopt  the  principle  of  free- 


EMANCIPATION    OF    LABOR.  43 

dom  of  industry  in  this  sense  and  to  do  away  with  the  old  sys- 
tem completely.  This  was  done  in  1810.  England,  under 
the  cpntrol  of  the  large  capitalists,  abolished  the  apprentice 
law  of  1562  in  1814  and  thus  acknowledged  the  same  prin- 
ciple. 

By  these  laws,  in  France,  England  and  Prussia,  not  only 
was  the  freedom  of  the  independent  workman  established,  but 
the  relation  of  contract  pure  and  simple  was  substituted  for 
the  one  prevailing  under  the  guilds.  The  prohibitions  of 
coalitions  of  laborers  were,  however,  left  on  the  statute  books. 
The  impression  which  the  policy  of  the  guilds  in  their  de- 
cadence had  made  on  the  public  mind  was  so  strong  that 
people  had  come  to  see  the  only  guarantee  of  liberty 
in  the  complete  isolation  of  each  individual,  and  saw  in  every 
agreement  of  any  kind  an  infringement  of  this  freedom.  The 
French  Parliament,  in  1791,  forbade  anew  all  agreements 
among  laborers  or  employers  or  merchants  and  every  union 
of  the  members  of  the  same  trade.  The  first  state  in  which 
the  ideas  of  Adam  Smith  about  labor  unions  were  carried 
through  was  England.  The  prohibitions  were  abolished  by 
the  law  of  1824.  In  France  they  were  not  abolished  until 
1864.  In  Germany  the  liberal  policy  mentioned  above  was 
afterwards  given  up  for  a  generation,  and  the  laws  forbidding 
laborers'  coalitions  were  not  passed  for  all  of  Germany  until 
after  1871,  while  Austria  had  abolished  them  in  the  previous 
year. 

If  we  look  back  at  the  course  of  the  development  of  the 
class  of  mechanical  laborers,  from  their  origin  until  the  present 
time,  we  see  that  there  has  been  through  the  centuries  a 
steadily  progressing  emancipation.  At  the  time  when  we 
first  hear  of  mechanics'  trades  among  the  Germanic  races 
they  are  carried  on  almost  exclusively  by  serfs  on  the  estates 
of  feudal  lords.  Then  there  appears  a  class  of  free  mechan- 
ics in  which,  however,  there  is  no  distinction  between  master 
and  journeyman.  But  the  trade  itself  is  at  this  time  in  a  very 
primitive  state  and  all  who  ply  it  are  in  one  uniform  condi- 
tion of  poverty;  and,  although  the  period  of  serving  a  me- 
chanic as  assistant  is  a  mere  transition  period  toward  the 


44  THK    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

mastership,  and  there  is,  therefore,  no  permanent  difference  in 
class  between  the  master  and  the  servant,  yet  the  power  of 
the  former  over  the  latter  during  this  period  of  serving  is.  ab- 
solute, the  one  being  practically  the  slave  of  the  other.  With 
the  progress  in  the  trade  itself  and  the  general  advance  in 
prosperity  differentiation  gradually  takes  place  into  a  master 
class  and  a  journeyman  class.  At  the  same  time  a  counter- 
movement  begins,  having  for  its  object  the  improvement  and 
the  protection  of  the  journeymen  class.  And  if  with  the  pro- 
gress of  time  it  becomes  more  and  more  impossible  for  the 
great  mass  of  journeymen  to  have  any  prospect  of  becoming 
masters,  the  old  relation  of  master  over  slave  gives  place  to 
the  different  power  of  master  over  journeyman,  limited  as  it 
was  by  custom  and  the  success  of  the  journeymen  unions  to  a 
mere  fraction  of  the  former  power.  The  power  of  the  master 
over  the  journeyman  is  then  still  further  limited  by  general 
laws  passed  by  the  chief  legislative  authority  of  the  state,  and, 
finally,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  old  relation  is  abolished 
entirely  and  the  status  is  converted  into  a  contract.  This 
mode  of  treatment  converts  the  laborer  into  an  independent 
human  being  on  the  same  footing  exactly  as  the  master,  and 
secures  to  him,  nominally  at  least,  perfect  freedom  in  the  dis- 
position of  his  time  and  labor,  which  form  the  commodities 
which  he  has  for  sale.  It  was  reserved  for  the  nineteenth 
century,  therefore,  to  emancipate  the  working  man  fully  from 
the  bondage  of  the  guild  masters. 


CHAPTER   III. 

RECENT    LABOR    LEGISLATION. 

THE  HOPES  OF  THE  FRIENDS  OF  LIBERTY  NOT  REALIZED  UNDER  THE  NEW 
SYSTEM — THE  GREAT  ADVANTAGE  OF  CAPITAL  OVER  LABOR  —  THE 
GROWING  DEBASEMENT  OF  THE  FACTORY  LABORER  —  ATTEMPTS  OF 
THE  LABORERS  TO  PROTECT  THEMSELVES  —  RISE  OF  LABOR  UNIONS 

—  FACTORY  LEGISLATION  IN  ENGLAND  —  IN   FRANCE  —  IN  GERMANY 

—  IN    SWITZERLAND  —  IN    OTHER    EUROPEAN    COUNTRIES  —  OTHER 
LEGISLATION  IN  THE  INTEREST  OF  LABOR  —  EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITIES 
ACTS  —  INSURANCE  AGAINST   SICKNESS  AND  ACCIDENTS  IN  GERMANY 

—  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  TRADES-UNIONS  IN  ENGLAND  —  IN  FRANCE 

—  IN  GERMANY  —  IN  ITALY  —  FEDERATION  OF  LABOR  —  PROGRESS  OF 
WORKING   CLASSES  —  THE   USE   MADK  BY  THEM  OF  THEIR  GROWING 
POWER. 

AS  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  industrial 
system  which  had  come  down  to  modern  times  from  the 
Middle  Ages  finally  succumbed  to  the  combined  attacks  of 
the  friends  of  free  labor  and  the  owners  of  large  capital.  The 
former  saw  in  the  guild  system  the  chief  barrier  in  the  way 
of  the  laborer's  making  the  most  of  the  only  commodity 
which  he  had  to  sell,  viz.,  labor.  The  latter  were  prevented 
by  the  same  system  from  utilizing  the  immense  advantages 
for  gain  which  the  recent  enormous  development  of  machin- 
ery had  put  within  their  grasp.  The  barriers,  however,  were 
first  thrown  down  which  stood  in  the  way  of  the  capitalists, 
and  in  the  race  for  supremacy  under  the  new  conditions,  capi- 
tal was  thus  enabled  to  get  a  long  start  of  labor.  Some  of 
the  barriers  in  the  way  of  the  latter,  it  is  true,  were  also 
thrown  down ;  but  now  the  greatest  obstacles,  among  others, 
that  prevented  labor  from  resorting  to  the  only  effective 
means  of  holding  its  own  in  the  race,  viz.,  combinations,  were 
left  in  full  force. 

The   immediate   result  of  the  new   freedom   of  inditstry, 
therefore,  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  a  decided  de- 

(45) 


46  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

terioration  in  the  condition  of  the  laborer.  His  old  safe- 
guards were  all  gone,  and  he  was  prevented  by  law  and 
circumstances  from  erecting  any  others  in  their  place.  The 
evils  of  the  new  system  made  themselves  felt  first  and  most 
deeply  in  England,  which  was  the  first  country  to  use  on  any 
great  scale  the  new  means  of  an  increased  production  in  the 
shape  of  machinery,  which  the  progress  of  invention  was 
increasing  every  day.  The  capitalist  had  no  obligations 
toward  the  laborer ;  all  these  had  been  swept  away,  and  he 
proceeded  to  use  his  newly  acquired  power  in  a  most  heart- 
less way.  The  mill  and  factory  lords  who  arose  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  master  mechanic,  exploited  in  the  most  mer- 
ciless manner  the  great  mass  of  laborers  who  were  now 
delivered  bound  hand  and  foot  into  their  hands.  The  con- 
dition of  factory  operatives  in  the  factory  districts  and  mining 
regions  of  England  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  and 
away  on  into  the  second  quarter  of  the  present,  was  horrible 
beyond  belief.  The  mere  description  of  the  lives  they  led 
is  enough  to  make  one's  blood  boil  with  indignation  that  such 
things  should  be  allowed  to  exist  in  a  so-called  Christian 
land.  It  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  the  great  mass  of  the  laborers 
were  destined  to  sink  into  a  condition  far  worse  than  that  in 
which  even  the  most  miserable  of  their  ancestors  had  lived, 
and  one  little  short  of  slavery  in  its  worst  form,  viz.,  that  in 
which  the  master  has  no  duties,  only  rights  and  privileges. 

There  is  no  telling  how  far  this  process  of  degradation 
might  have  proceeded  if  the  laborers  themselves,  who  were 
thus  being  gradually  forced  down  into  a  state  little  short  of 
barbarism,  had  not  begun  to  resist  with  such  means  as  were 
in  their  power.  They  could  not  organize  openly,  as  any 
attempt  to  defend  their  rights  was  met  by  the  strong  arm  of 
repression.  They  had  absolutely  no  representation  in  any 
legislative  body.  The  political  economists  of  the  time,  fully 
under  the  capitalistic  influences  of  society,  proved  that  nothing 
could  be  done  by  the  government  which  would  not  injure  the 
laborer  more  than  it  would  benefit  him,  showed  how  neces- 
sary* to  national  prosperity  was  the  accumulation  of  capital, 
how  surely  men  would  not  save  unless  they  could  get  good 


HORRIBLE    CONDITION    OF    OPERATIVES.  47 

returns  on  their  money,  and  how  any  interference  with  the 
power  of  the  capitalist  would  so  diminish  his  profits  th^t  he 
would  no  longer  save,  and  then  the  country  would  be  com- 
pletely ruined.  The  progress  of  invention  made  it  possible 
for  the  employers  to  get  along  with  women  if  men  would  not 
consent  to  a  lowering  of  their  wages,  and  soon  to  resort  to 
the  labor  of  children  when  they  could  get  neither  men  nor 
women.  And  thus  the  condition  of  all  classes,  men,  women 
and  children,  was  becoming  worse  and  worse. 

The  natural  outcome  of  this  state  of  affairs  was  a  long 
series  of  outrages  on  persons  and  property  committed  by 
these  starving  and  half-crazed  people,  which  no  severity  of 
police  power  seemed  able  to  prevent,  and  which  increased 
with  every  passing  year.  These  people,  with  no  legal  way 
of  making  their  grievances  known,  resorted  in  many  instances 
to  the  foulest  and  most  dastardly  crimes  ;  and  wise  men  soon 
saw  that  such  a  condition  of  things  was  becoming  absolutely 
untenable,  and  that  something  must  be  done  to  remedy  it. 
No  appeal  to  his  justice  or  duty  could  move  the  unjust  judge ; 
nothing  but  the  fear  of  revolution  and  loss  of  life  and  property 
could  stir  the  attention  of  the  Parliament  of  England  to  a 
consideration  of  this  question  ;  and  when  it  did  begin  to  do 
something  it  was  with  slow  and  halting  steps,  which  did  not 
at  all  keep  pace  with  the  growing  debasement  and  enslave- 
ment of  the  laboring  class. 

The  crying  evils  of  the  factory  system,  and  the  growing 
demoralization  of  the  laboring  class,  as  a  whole,  finally  forced 
the  English  government  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  legislation 
which  has  been  growing  down  to  the  present  time,  and 
which  has  for  its  object  the  protection  and  improvement  of 
the  laborers  in  the  various  departments  of  industrial  life. 
Some  of  the  laws  have  had  for  their  object  the  protection 
of  the  helpless  classes  of  laborers,  such  as  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  the  securing  of  healthful  and  safe  conditions  of 
labor.  These  are  known  collectively  as  factory  acts,  and 
have  been  imitated  in  the  leading  countries  of  Europe. 
Others  have  aimed  at  protecting  the  laborer  against  the 
greed  and  avarice  of  the  employer,  such  as  those  forbidding 


4.8  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  payment  of  wages  in  anything  but  money,  and  insisting  on 
the  regular  periodical  payment  and  making  it  unlawful  for 
the  employer  to  insist  on  any  conditions  in  regard  to  the  mode 
or  place  of  spending  wages  when  hiring  laborers.  Still  others 
have  given  to  the  laborers  the  means  of  protecting  themselves 
by  allowing  them  to  form  trade-unions  for  the  furtherance  of 
their  common  interests.  Efforts  have  been  made  by  the  gov- 
ernment to  afford  to  laborers  a  safe  place  to  invest  their  surplus 
earnings  by  the  establishment  of  the  postal  savings  banks,  and 
giving  them  opportunities  to  buy  into  the  funds  at  the  same 
rate  as  the  wealthier.  Opportunities  have  been  furnished  them 
further  to  establish  investment  companies  of  their  own  by  grant- 
ing articles  of  incorporation  to  various  forms  of  friendly  so- 
cieties and  the  equally  varied  forms  of  the  building  societies. 
Some  of  the  Continental  governments,  notably  that  of  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  have  even  gone  further  than  England 
in  the  direction  of  protecting  the  laborer  against  the  great 
calamities  of  his  life,  by  inaugurating  under  government 
auspices  companies  to  insure  the  laborer  against  sickness  and 
accident  happening  in  the  prosecution  of  his  work. 

This  century  has  also  seen,  for  the  first  time,  such  an  ex- 
tension of  the  suffrage  as  now  insures  to  the  laboring  man,  if 
he  will  use  his  opportunities,  adequate  representation  of  his 
interests  in  the  great  legislative  bodies  of  Western  Europe. 
The  English  laborer  has  now,  under  the  recent  extension  of 
the  suffrage,  the  same  relative  vote  for  members  of  Parlia- 
ment as  any  other  class  in  the  community ;  and  if  he  is  not 
represented  it  can  only  be  his  own  fault.  The  new  German 
Empire,  established  in  1871,  was  built  up  on  the  broad  basis 
of  universal  manhood  suffrage ;  and  Austria,  Italy  and 
France  extend  practically  the  same  privileges.  The  large 
mass  of  legislation,  moreover,  which  has  been  placed  on  the 
statute  books  of  this  century  in  the  interest  of  health  and 
comfort  has  redounded  in  a  large  measure  to  the  benefit  of 
the  laboring  man,  though  much  was  placed  there  from  no 
particular  intention  of  helping  him.  We  have  not  space  to 
notice  all  these  various  laws ;  indeed,  that  would  require  a 
pretty  complete  resume  of  the  legislation  of  Europe  for  the  last 


SUFFRAGE    FOR    THK    WORKINGMEN.  49 

eighty-five  years  ;  but  some  of  them  are  important  enough  to 
deserve  a  fuller  notice. 

Among  the  most  important  acts  having  for  their  object. the 
protection  of  the  laborer,  in  his  freedom  of  expending  his 
wages, against  the  greed  of  the  employer,  is  the  series  of  acts 
relating  to  the  truck  system  of  paying  wages.  The  first  En- 
glish act  of  this  kind  was  passed  in  1831,  and  has  been 
followed  up  by  a  series  of  acts  which  forbid  employers  from 
paying  their  laborers  in  other  than  money  of  the  realm  or  to 
give  them  credit  for  wares  purchased  of  them  or  persons  de- 
pendent on,  or  connected  with,  them,  or  to  sell  them  wares  at 
prices  exceeding  the  current  prices,  or  to  compel  them  to  pur- 
chase at  stores  controlled  by  or  worked  in  the  interests  of  the 
employers.  These  laws  aim  not  at  limiting  the  freedom  of 
the  laborer  in  the  expenditure  of  his  wages,  but  at  making  it 
impossible  for  the  employer  to  limit  it  by  imposing  injurious 
conditions.  They  are  intended  to  prevent  that  destruction  of 
the  family  life  of  the  laborer,  and  to  free  him  from  the  eco- 
nomic and  moral  slavery  which  is  sure  to  be  brought  about  by 
payment  in  kind  or  in  wares,  by  giving  credit  and  by  making 
it  a  condition  of  receiving  employment  that  he  shall  make  his 
purchases  in  stores  conducted  by  the  employers,  or,  as  was 
once  widely  the  custom,  in  a  grog-shop  run  by  the  masters,, 
where  he  could  be  persuaded  to  leave  the  bulk  of  his  wages 
before  he  left  the  place.  As  these  conditions  existed  at  a  time 
when  organization  among  the  laborers  was  unlawful  and 
they  could  not  act  in  common  to  do  away  with  such  abuses, 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  state  to  interfere  and  forbid  such  re- 
quirements in  the  contracts.  Such  laws  do  not  by  any  means 
do  away  with  the  necessity  of  action  on  the  part  of  the 
laborers  themselves,  as  experience  shows  that  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  carry  out  such  laws  except  where  the  trades-unions 
are  strong  enough  to  enforce  it  by  their  action.  The  custom 
still  prevails  where  there  are  no  labor 'unions  to  insist  that  it 
shall  disappear.  The  laws  on  this  subject  in  Germany  are 
very  unsatisfactory,  and  there  are  none  at  all  in  France. 

The  first  factory  law  was  passed  in  1802.  It  had  for  its 
object  the  preservation  of  the  health  and  morals  of  apprentices 

(4) 


5O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  others  employed  in  cotton  and  other  mills  and  in  cotton 
and  other  factories.  This  bill  owed  its  passage  to  the  ravages 
of  epidemic  diseases  in  the  factory  districts  of  Manchester. 
The  ill-fed  and  overworked  children  in  the  factories  formed 
the  very  best  field  for  the  development  and  spread  of  epidemic 
and  contagious  diseases.  Pauper  children  were  sent  in  crowds 
from  the  agricultural  districts  of  the  southern  counties  to  the 

O 

manufacturing  districts  of  the  northern  counties.  They  were 
apprenticed  to  the  mill  owners  and  mercilessly  overworked 
and  under-fed.  The  act  mentioned  subjected  all  mills  em- 
ploying three  or  more  apprentices  or  twenty  other  persons 
to  its  provisions.  The  walls  were  to  be  whitewashed,  win- 
dows enough  were  to  be  provided,  and  the  apprentices  wrere 
always  to  have  two  suits  of  clothing,  one  of  which  was  to  be 
new  each  year.  Twelve  hours  were  declared  to  be  a  day's 
work,  and  work  was  altogether  prohibited  from  9  p.  M.  until 
6  A.  M.  These  provisions  applied  only  to  apprentices  and 
not  to  the  labor  of  children  residing  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  factories.  In  1819  children  under  nine  years  of  age  were 
excluded  from  the  cotton  mills  altogether,  and  those  from 
nine  to  sixteen  were  not  to  be  employed  more  than  twelve  hours 
per  day.  In  1825  a  bill  was  passed  providing  for  a  partial 
holiday  on  Saturday.  In  1831  night  work  in  the  cotton  fac- 
tories was  prohibited  for  persons  between  nine  and  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  The  working  day  for  persons  under  eighteen 
was  to  be  twelve  hours,  and  on  Saturday  nine.  In  1833 
another  act  was  passed  which  seemed  in  some  respects  to  be  a 
retrogression,  since  it  restricted  night  work  in  factories  to  per- 
sons under  eighteen  instead  of  under  twenty-one,  yet  .extended 
the  provisions  of  its  protection  to  a  much  larger  number  of 
callings.  It  now  includes  every  cotton,  woolen,  worsted, 
hemp,  flax,  tow,  linen,  or  silk  mill,  or  factory  wherein  steam 
or  water  or  any  other  mechanical  power  is  used  to  propel  or 
work  the  machinery.  The  labor  of  young  persons  under 
eighteen  remains  fixed  at  twelve  hours  per  day  and  sixty-nine 
per  week,  with  one  hour  and  a  half  for  meal-times,  and  the  age 
for  first  admission  at  nine  years.  The  employment  of  chil- 
dren under  eleven,  twelve  and  thirteen  years  of  age,  is  to  be 


PASSAGE    OF    FACTORY    LAWS.  5 1 

gradually  restricted  from  twelve  to  nine  hours  per  day  and 
forty-eight  a  week.  Regular  holidays  for  children  and  young 
people  are  secured ;  medical  certificates  are  required  before 
children  may  be  employed ;  factory  inspectors  are  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  crown  ;  school  attendance  is  made  compulsory 
for  all  children  whose  labor  is  limited  to  forty-eight  hours  per 
week.  .This  measure  stood  its  ground  for  eleven  years,  when 
another  act  was  passed,  including  more  careful  provisions  for 
enforcing  inspection  ;  for  protecting  children  or  young  persons 
engaged  in  the  wet  spinning  of  flax,  hemp,  jute  or  tow ;  for 
the  avoidance  of  accidents  to  children ;  the  guarding  of  ma- 
chinery ;  the  inquiring  into  and  securing  compensation  for 
accidents.  The  age  of  first  employment  of  children  is 
lowered  to  eight  years ;  the  hours  of  their  employment  are 
reduced  to  six  and  a  half  or  seven  hours  per  day  or  ten  hours 
on  alternate  days.  The  employment  of  women  is  brought 
under  the  same  rules  as  that  of  young  persons  ;  the  cessation 
of  labor  is  made  absolute  for  the  protected  classes  on  Satur- 
day at  4.30  p.  M.  ;  the  hours  for  meal-time  are  to  be  taken 
from  7.30  A.  M.  and  7.30  p.  M.,  with  additional  regulations  as 
to  meal-times  and  half-holidays  and  for  school  attendance  for 
children.  In  the  next  year  the  workers  in  print  works  were 
brought  under  the  same  provisions.  In  1847  was  passed  the 
famous  ten-hour  law  which  restricted  the  hours  of  labor  for 
young  persons  under  eighteen  and  for  women  of  all  ages  after 
May  I,  1848,  to  ten  hours  per  day  and  fifty-eight  hours  per 
week.  It  is  well  known  that  this  act  has  practically  operated 
(until  quite  recently  when  means  seemed  to  have  been  de- 
vised by  some  employers  for  employing  adult  males  only)  as 
a  general  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  in  consequence  of 
the  interdependence  of  the  labor  of  men  and  that  of  women 
and  young  persons,  thus  showing  how  powerful  the  effect  of 
law  may  be  in  fixing  the  length  of  the  working  day.  In  1850 
work  was  prohibited  for  the  protected  classes  between  the 
hours  of  6  p.  M.  and  6  A.  M.,  except  on  Saturdays,  when 
work  was  to  cease  at  2  P.'M.  ;  thus  finally  establishing  the 
half-holiday.  By  a  series  of  subsequent  acts  these  same  pro- 
visions were  extended  to  bleaching  and  dyeing  works,  lace 


52  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

factories  and  match  factories.  In  1874  the  minimum  age  of 
children  in  the  factories  was  fixed  at  ten  years,  and  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  extended  to  nearly  every  branch  of  manu- 
facturing industry.  In  1878  a  consolidating  act  was  passed 
which  included  in  one  bill  the  substance  of  all  previous  acts. 
It  is  worthy  of  special  notice  as  containing  the  present  pro- 
visions on  the  subject.  Part  i  contains  the  general  law  re- 
lating to  workshops  and  factories  under  the  following  heads  : 
i,  sanitary  provisions;  2,  safety;  3,  employment  and  meal- 
hours;  4,  holidays;  5,  education;  6,  certificates  of  fitness  for 
employment;  7,  accidents. 

i.  Under  the  first  head,  the  buildings  must  be  kept  in  a 
clean  state  and  free  from  any  effluvia  arising  from  any  drain, 
privy  or  other  nuisance.  2.  The  second  contains  provisions 
for  the  fencing  of  dangerous  machinery  and  restrictions  on 
the  employment  of  children  and  young  persons  in  cleaning 
machinery  while  in  motion.  3.  No  child,  young  person,  or 
woman  shall  be  employed  except  during  the  period  of  em- 
ployment fixed  as  follows :  ist.  In  textile  factories.  For 
young  persons  and  women  the  period  shall  be  from  6  A.M.  to- 
6  P.M.,  or  7  A.M.,  to  7  P.M.  ;  on  Saturdays  from  6  A.M.  to  i 
P.M.  for  all  manufacturing  processes,  and  1.30  for  all  other 
employment,  if  one  hour  is  allowed  for  meals,  otherwise  at 
12.30  and  i  P.M.  respectively.  Or  if  the  work  begins  at  7 
A.M.  it  shall  end  on  Saturdays  at  1.30  and  2  P.M.  respectively. 
For  meal-times  two  hours  at  least  on  week  days,  and  on  Sat- 
urdays half  an  hour  must  be  allowed.  Continuous  employ- 
ment without  a  meal-time  of  at  least  half  an  hour  must  not 
exceed  four  and  one-half  hours.  For  children,  employment 
must  be  for  half  time  (only  in  morning  or  afternoon  sets,  or 
on  alternate  days,  the  time  to  be  the  same  as  above).  A  child 
must  not  be  employed  for  two  successive  periods  of  seven 
days  each  in  the  same  set  whether  morning  or  afternoon,  nor 
on  two  successive  Saturdays  nor  on  Saturday  in  any  week  if 
he  has  already  on  one  day  been  employed  more  than  five  and 
one-half  hours.  Nor  shall  a  child  be  employed  the  whole 
time  on  two  successive  days  nor  on  the  same  day  in  two  suc- 
cessive weeks.  2d.  In  non-textile  factories.  For  young  per- 


FAVORABLE    LABOR    LEGISLATION.  53 

sons  and  women :  period  of  employment  same  as  in  textile 
factories,  ending  at  2  P.M.  on  Saturdays ;  meal-times  not  less 
than  an  hour  and  one-half  and  on  Saturdays  half  an  hour; 
continuous  employment  without  a  meal  not  to  exceed  five 
hours.  These  provisions  also  apply  to  young  persons  in  work- 
shops. For  children  half  time  arrangements  as  before. 
Women  in  workshops  are  subject  to  the  same  regulations  as 
young  persons,  if  young  persons  and  children  are  employed ; 
if  not,  the  period  of  employment  may  extend  from  6  A.  M. 
to  9  P.  M.,  and  on  Saturdays  to  4  P.M.  Absent  time  for  meals, 
etc.,  must  be  allowed  to  the  extent  of  four  and  one-half  hours 
(on  Saturdays  for  two  and  one-half  hours).  The  employ- 
ment of  young  children  at  home  when  the  work  is  the  same 
as  in  a  factory  or  workshop  but  no  machine  power  is  used  is 
also  regulated,  the  day  being  from  6  to  9  for  young  persons  ; 
from  6  to  i  or  from  i  to  8  for  children.  Meal-times  in  factories 
or  workshops  must  be  simultaneous,  and  employment  during 
such  meal-time  is  forbidden.  The  occupier  of  a  factory  or 
workshop  must  issue  a  notice  of  the  hours  of  employment, 
etc.  No  children  under  ten  may  be  employed.  4.  The  fol- 
lowing holidays  shall  be  allowed  to  all  persons  :  Christmas 
day,  Good  Friday  and  eight  half-holidays,  two  of  which  may 
be  commuted  for  one  entire  holiday.  5.  Occupiers  must  ob- 
tain a  weekly  certificate  of  the  school  attendance  for  every 
child  in  their  employment.  6.  Medical  certificates  of  fitness 
for  employment  must  be  secured  in  the  case  of  children  and 
young  persons  under  sixteen.  When  a  child  becomes  a  young 
person  afresh  certificate  is  necessary.  7.  Notice  of  accidents 
causing  loss  of  life  or  bodily  injury  must  be  sent  to  the  in- 
spector and  certifying  surgeon  of  the  district.  The  word 
child  as  used  in  the  act  means  a  person  under  ten  years  of 
age,  young  person  means  one  between  fourteen  and  eighteen ; 
and  woman  means  a  female  person  over  eighteen.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  government  now  undertakes  to  protect  the  whole 
class  of  women,  children  and  youth  employed  in  manufactur- 
ing industries.  The  protection  of  laborers  over  eighteen 
comprises  only  the  general  provisions  in  regard  to  sanitation, 
safety,  remedies  for  wages,  etc. 


54  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

In  1842  the  first  of  a  series  of  mining  acts  was  passed 
which  forbade  the  working  of  women  and  girls  absolutely 
and  that  of  boys  under  ten  years  of  age,  in  all  mines  and 
collieries.  In  1850  and  1855  other  acts  were  passed  provid- 
ing for  the  more  thorough  inspection  of  mines.  In  1860  an 
important  act  was  passed  forbidding  the  employment  of  boys 
under  twelve,  except  such  boys  between  ten  and  twelve  as 
can  produce  a  schoolmaster's  certificate  that  they  can  read  or 
write,  or  who  attend  school  for  not  less  than  three  hours  a  day 
two  days  in  the  week  each  lunar  month.  Eighteen  is  fixed  as 
the  age  at  which  youths  may  be  placed  in  charge  of  steam- 
engines  or  machinery  for  hoisting  persons.  Provisions  are 
made  for  the  removal  of  dangers  by  the  inspectors  which 
are  not  provided  for  by  the  rules.  Wages  are  to  be  paid  in 
money  and  in  an  office  not  contiguous  to  a  spirit,  or  wine  or 
beershop  ;  and  where  the  payment  is  made  by  weight,  meas- 
ure or  guage  they  may  at  their  own  cost  station  one  of  their 
own  number  at  the  place  of  weighing  to  take  an  account  of 
the  weight. 

Several  other  important  acts  have  been  passed  relating  to 
different  callings  with  the  intention  of  securing  a  more  satis- 
factory degree  of  protection  to  laborers  employed  in  their 
daily  labor,  such  as  that  relating  to  chimney-sweepers,  bake- 
houses, Merchant  Shipping  Act,  etc.,  etc.,  which  cannot  be 
further  discussed  in  this  connection.  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  nothing  appears  in  this  long  list  looking  toward  bettering 
the  condition  of  the  agricultural  laborers.  The  Agricultural 
Gangs  Act  of  1867  did  aim  to  put  a  stop  to  an  abuse  which 
was  quite  equal  to  anything  which  ever  existed  in  the  cotton 
or  woolen  mills,  but  that  afforded  little  protection  to  children 
or  laborers  except  against  this  one  evil. 

The  most  important  act  for  the  protection  of  laborers  which 
has  been  passed  of  late  years  is  that  known  as  the  Employers' 
Liability  Act  of  1880.  This  gives  to  the  employees  a  right  to 
a  suit  against  their  employers  in  case  they  are  injured  while 
performing  their  duties,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  the  acci- 
dent wa.s  caused  by  the  fault  of  the  employee  himself. 

The  first  law  in  regard  to  child-labor  in  France  was  passed 


IN    SWITZERLAND.  55 

in  1841,  and  contained  provisions  which  would  have  been 
very  satisfactory  for  that  period  if  they  had  been  enforced 
thoroughly.  One  of  the  immediate  consequences  of  the  Rev- 
olution of  1848  was  the  passage  of  the  so-called  twelve  hour 
law  which  introduced  a  normal  working  day  of  twelve  hours 
for  adult  male  laborers,  but  which  has  always  remained  a 
dead  letter.  A  law  was  passed  in  1874  m  regard  to  the  labor 
of  children  and  young  girls,  the  provisions  of  which  will  be 
noticed  in  another  connection. 

Prussia  began  in  1839,  at  a  time  when  the  evils  of  the  fac- 
tory system  were  not  very  great  and  had  attracted  but  little 
attention.  The  government  issued  a  decree  in  regard  to  the 
working  of  children  in  factories,  which  was  superseded  by  a 
more  general  one  in  1853.  A  general  factory  law  passed  in 
1849  provided  for  the  establishment  of  industrial  councils  in 
each  factory  district, composed  partly  of  employers  and  partly 
of  laborers  and  partly  of  government  officials,  which  was 
to  fix  the  number  of  hours  in  a  working  day  for  the  various 
branches  of  industry.  This  provision  did  not  meet  with  much 
success,  and  has  always  remained  a  dead  letter.  The  same 
law  forbade  the  truck  system  of  paying  wages.  The  law  of 
I853  was  of  considerable  importance,  as  it  was  the  basis  of 
subsequent  legislation,  not  only  for  Prussia  but  also  for  the 
new  German  Empire.  The  law  of  1869  of  the  North  German 
Confederation  contained  important  provisions  in  regard  to 
this  subject  and  became  general  imperial  law  of  the  German 
Empire. 

Switzerland  has  the  honor  of  going  further  in  this  direction 
than  any  other  country.  Previous  to  1874  tne  on^Y  power 
which  could  pass  factory  acts  were  the  various  states  of  the 
Swiss  Union,  but  since  that  year  the  Federal  Government  has 
power  to  make  such  legislation.  The  consequence  of  this 
new  extension  of  power  of  the  Federal  Government,  was  the 
passage  of  a  law  in  1877,  subsequently  approved  by  a  popu- 
lar vote  on  the  subject,  which  may  serve  as  a  model  so  far  as 
its  formal  provisions  are  concerned,  which  goes  much  farther 
than  any  other  law  on  the  subject  now  in  existence. 

Factory    laws    have   been    passed   in    Austria,    Hungary, 


56  THE    I.AIJOR    MOVEMENT. 

Netherlands,  Denmark  and  Sweden.  The  other  European 
countries  appear  to  have  nothing  on  the  subject  on  their 
statute  books,  though  Russia  has  been  contemplating  one  for 
some  time,  and  strong  efforts  have  been  made  for  years  in 
Belgium.  All  such  attempts  have  failed  hitherto,  through  the 
opposition  of  the  powerful  capitalists  and  factory  lords,  who 
show  themselves  as  lacking  in  all  regard  for  humanity  in 
their  dealings  with  their  laborers  as  the  English  lords  of  fifty 
years  ago. 

The  law  in  the  German  Empire,  at  present,  forbids  abso- 
lutely the  employment  of  children  in  factories  under  twelve 
years  of  age.  Those  between  twelve  and  fourteen  may  be 
employed  only  six  hours  per  day,  and  those  between  four- 
teen and  sixteen,  ten  hours  per  day.  The  labor  must  be 
performed  between  5 .30  in  the  morning  and  8.30  in  the  even- 
ing, with  certain  pauses,  and  not  at  all  on  Sundays  or  holi- 
days. In  the  complete  prohibition  of  labor  of  children  under 
thirteen  Germany  goes  much  further  than  most  countries. 
The  French  law  forbids  labor  under  thirteen,  but  allows  a 
great  number  of  exceptions  which  go  far  toward  making  the 
law  of  little  use.  Switzerland  goes  further  than  Germany 
by  making  the  age  for  admission  to  the  factories  fifteen. 
Comparatively  few  children,  however,  are  employed  in  Ger- 
many who  are  under  the  age  of  fifteen.  The  compulsory 
school-law  makes  it  necessary  for  the  children  to  attend 
school  so  many  months  in  the  year,  until  they  reach  the  age 
of  fifteen,  that  it  is  hardly  worth  the  while  of  employers  to 
engage  them.  The  number  of  children  under  thirteen  em- 
ployed in  the  cotton  factories  alone  in  England  amounted  in 
1878  to  over  sixty-seven  thousand,  and  was  increasing  all  the 
time.  The  French  law  affords  but  little  protection  to  the 
youths,  since  those  between  twelve  and  sixteen  may  work 
twelve  hours  per  day,  which  shows  also  how  far  the  law 
limiting  the  day  of  the  full-grown  laborer  is  carried  out,  since 
twelve  hours  is  his  day  also.  The  German  law  provides  that 
young  persons  between  fourteen  and  sixteen,  who,  according 
to  the  local  law,  must  still  attend  school,  may  not  work  more 
than  six  hours.  The  Swiss  law  protects  all  classes  of  labor- 


THE    NORMAL    WORKING    DAY.  57 

•ers.  Those  especially  mentioned  are  children  under  fifteen, 
who  may  not  be  employed  at  all ;  young  persons  between  fif- 
teen and  sixteen,  and  those  between  sixteen  and  eighteen, 
and  w6men  over  eighteen.  The  legal  working  day  is  eleven 
hours,  shortened  to  ten  on  the  days  before  Sundays  and  holi- 
days, with  a  noon  pause  of  one  hour.  Work  is  absolutely 
forbidden  on  Sundays  and  holidays.  Night  work  for  all 
laborers  is  forbidden,  except  in  those  branches  of  industry 
where  continuous  working  is  necessary  to  the  business.  The 
working  day  may  be  shortened  by  decree  in  the  unhealthy 
branches  of  industry.  In  the  case  of  youths  who  have  to 
attend  school  after  the  age  of  admission  to  the  factories,  they 
shall  not  be  employed  more  than  six  hours.  Pregnant 
women  are  not  to  be  employed  in  those  branches  which  are 
unhealthy,  and  they  are  to  be  excluded  in  all  factories  for  at 
least  two  weeks  before,  and  six  weeks  after,  delivery.  Women 
must  not  be  employed  to  clean  machinery  in  motion. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  a  normal  working 
day  has  been  established  in  no  Continental  country  except 
France,  where  the  law  is  a  dead  letter,  and  in  Switzerland. 
A  normal  working  day  of  ten  hours  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
practically  established  in  England  by  the  law  limiting  the 
working  hours  of  women  and  youth  to  ten,  which  had  the 
effect  of  making  the  day  for  all  ten,  owing  to  the  intimate 
connection  of  the  work  of  the  protected  classes  with  that  of 
adult  men. 

The  legislation  in  regard  to  the  shops  and  factories  as 
regards  lighting,  ventilation,  etc.,  is  very  different  in  differ- 
ent countries.  That  of  England  has  been  mentioned.  Ger- 
many goes  further  in  its  laws  on  such  subjects  than  even 
Switzerland,  since  it  requires  every  master,  no  matter  how 
small  the  number  of  his  laborers,  to  comply  with  certain 
police  regulations  of  the  most  far-reaching  kind  in  regard 
to  all  the  details  of  building  and  operating  his  machin- 
ary  so  far  as  they  affect  the  health  and  morals  of  the 
operatives. 

According  to  the  German  law  the  employer  must  pay  the 
wages  in  cash.  Payment  in  any  other  form  is  invalid,  and 


58  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  employer  so  paying  may  be  fined  or  imprisoned.  The 
employer  is  not  permitted  to  give  the  laborer  credit  for  goods 
or  to  loan  him  money.  Nor  are  any  members  of  his  family, 
assistants  or  agents  permitted  to  do  what  is  forbidden  to  the 
employer.  Employers  are  not  permitted  to  make  any  con- 
tracts with  their  laborers,  by  which  the  latter  bind  themselves 
to  purchase  wares  in  his  or  any  other  stores. 

The  German  Federal  law  on  the  liability  of  employers 
was  passed  in  1871.  It  provides  for  the  payment  of  damages 
in  case  of  the  death  of  any  employee  by  accident  in  railroads, 
mining,  quarrying  and  factories.  It  presumes  that  the  acci- 
dent occurs  through  the  fault  of  the  employer,  and  thus  puts 
the  burden  of  proof  on  him  to  show  that  it  occurred  through 
the  fault  of  the  injured  party,  in  which  case  he  is  not  liable 
for  damages.  The  law  makes  some  differences  in  case  of 
the  railroads  and  other  classes  of  undertakings.  The  damages 
include,  in  the  case  of  bodily  injury,  the  payment  of  costs  of 
treatment  and  making  good  the  loss  of  earnings  which  is  inci- 
dent to  the  accident.  In  the  case  of  death,  they  include  the 
cost  of  treatment  up  to  the  time  of  death,  the  cost  of  burial, 
and  the  loss  of  property  incident  to  the  sickness  and  death  of 
the  person  injured,  and  a  sum  to  be  decided  by  the  court  to 
those  persons  who  were  dependent  on  the  person  so  killed. 
If  the  employer  and  the  persons  whom  the  deceased  was 
bound  to  support  can  not  agree  as  to  the  gross  sum  to  be  paid 
in  damages,  the  court  is  to  grant  an  annuity,  which  it  is  to  fix 
after  examining  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

This  law  was  very  materially  modified  by  the  passage  of 
the  Compulsory  Insurance  bill,  in  1884.  Under  this  act  em- 
ployers are  bound  to  insure  their  employees  against  all  acci- 
dents happening  to  them  while  engaged  at  their  work,  whether 
owing  to  their  own  fault  or  not,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that 
the  employee  himself  intentionally  caused  the  injury.  It  is 
claimed  that  this  law  will  afford  much  more  efficient  protection 
than  the  liability  act,  which  it  largely  supersedes,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  no  question  is  raised  as  to  whose  fault  the  accident 
was,  but  payment  must  be  made  anyhow. 

A  series  of  friendly  societies  to  insure  the  laborer  against 


CO-OPERATION.  59 

• 

sickness  has  also  been  organized  under  the  supervision  of  the 
public  authorities,  to  some  one  of  which  every  laborer  must 
belong. 

We  must  pass  with"  the  mere  mention  the  laws  intended  to 
facilitate  the  banking  operations  of  the  workmen,  which  ended 
in  the  establishment  of  loan  and  savings  banks ;  those  which 
concern  the  applications  of  his  savings  and  energies,  resulting 
in  the  vast  net-work  of  friendly  and  building  societies  ;  those 
relating  to  his  physical  and  intellectual  advancement,  which 
have  led  to  the  multiplication  of  libraries,  mechanics'  insti- 
tutes, gymnasiums  and  schools  of  all  kinds ;  those  aiming'  at 
securing  a  better  housing  of  the  laborer,  which  conferred 
upon  the  public  authorities  of  boroughs  and  cities  the  power 
to  take  land  by  the  right  of  eminent  domain  and  erect  tene- 
ment houses  upon  them  for  the  use  of  laborers,  and  which  thus 
incorporated  the  principle  in  the  English  law  that  the  same 
power  that  is  so  continually  exercised  in  order  to  secure  op- 
portunities for  the  investment  of  capital  may  also  be  used  in 
the  interests  of  labor.  Those  which  facilitated  the  establish- 
ment of  co-operative  societies  of  various  kinds,  such  as  co- 
operative stores,  co-operative  factories  and  co-operative  banks, 
and  many  similar  acts  which  testify  powerfully  to  the  great 
advancement  of  the  laborers  themselves  and  the  newly 
awakened  interest  of  every  class  of  society  in  everything 
which  concerns  the  condition  of  the  wage-receiving  class. 

The  efforts  to  solve  the  labor  question  by  substituting  for 
the  present  system  of  wage-payer  and  wage-receiver  a  plan 
of  co-operation  cannot  be  said  to  have  assumed  importance 
enough  as  yet  to  enable  us  to  judge  as  to  its  ultimate  success. 
Curiously  enough  the  different  forms  of  co-operation  succeed 
very  differently  in  different  countries.  Consumptive  co- 
operation has  succeded  best  in  England ;  productive  co-oper- 
ation, in  France;  and  banking  or  credit  co-operation,  in  Ger- 
many. The  stores  of  England,  the  factories  of  France  and 
the  credit  unions  of  Germany  prove  the  possibility  of  substi- 
tuting co-operation  under  very  favorable  conditions  for  the 
wage  system  in  some  departments  of  their  respective  spheres. 
But  as  yet  only  a  mere  fraction  of  the  laboring  class  has  been 


6O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

brought  within  the  range  of  the  working  of  these  various 
establishments. 

A  very  different  means  of  meeting  many  of  the  difficulties 
of  the  present  situation  is  to  be  seen  in  the  trades-union. 
This  institution,  organized  in  the  dark  days  which  followed 
the  destruction  of  the  old  industrial  system  and  for  a  long 
time  unlawful  and  still  discriminated  against  in  the  legislation 
of  nearly  every  European  nation,  has  been  steadily  growing 
in  influence  and  power  for  the  last  fifty  years,  until  to-day  it  is 
recognized  as  the  most  powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
the  working  class.  Trades-unions  have  grown  up  within 
the  limits  of  each  trade ;  but  during  the  last  few  years  an 
effort  is  making  to  organize  them  all  into  a  sort  of  federa- 
tion of  labor  unions,  which  shall  stand  as  a  unit  in  the  de- 
fense of  the  rights  of  the  laborer  and  work  as  a  unit  for  his 
improvement. 

The  trades-union  took  its  rise  in  England  and  has  there 
reached  its  highest  development.  It  is  now  recognized  by 
employers  themselves  that  the  most  stable  and  satisfactory 
conditions  prevail  in  those  branches  where  the  trades-unions 
are  the  strongest  and  best  developed,  i.  e.,  these  associations 
are  now  recognized  as  among  the  most  conservative  elements 
in  the  industrial  system,  and  as  offering  to  the  honest  and 
well  meaning  employer  the  best  guarantee  that  he  will  not  be 
outbid  in  the  market  by  unscrupulous  competitors  who  rely 
for  their  profits  on  the  possibility  of  lowering  wages  when- 
ever they  think  they  see  a  chance  to  cut  under  the  prevailing 
rate. 

The  trades-union  sprang  up  also  in  France  about  the  same 
time  as  in  England.  Some  of  these  unions  can  be  proved  to 
have  developed  out  of  the  old  journeymen's  associations,  and 
others  grew  up  under  the  mask  of  friendly  societies  ;  but  the 
most  of  them  sprang  up  spontaneously  out  of  strikes,  as  in 
England.  Not  only  in  their  origin,  but  also  in  their  nature, 
as  well  as  in  the  conception  and  limitation  of  their  functions, 
in  their  tendencies  and  in  the  particular  measures  in  regard 
to  wages  and  industry,  as  \vell  as  in  the  importance  which 
they  have  finally  obtained  in  the  life  of  the  laborer;  these 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    TRADES-UNIONS.  6l 

labor  syndicates  (as  the  French  call  them)  resemble  in  the 
most  striking  way  their  English  counterparts,  a  circumstance 
which,  owing  to  the  spontaneity  of  their  rise  in  both  coun- 
tries, speaks  loudly  for  their  timeliness  and  their  fitness  to 
satisfy  a  great  demand.  The  organization,  however,  in 
France  is  not  so  complete  as  in  England,  and  they  do  not  yet 
embrace  all  branches  of  skilled  labor. 

In  Germany  the  trades-unions  have  not  run  such  a  career  as 
in  England  or  France.  According  to  Brentano,  those  which 
have  been  organized  since  1860  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes, — those  founded  by  the  laborers  themselves  from  a 
feeling  of  their  own  needs,  and  those  which  were  started  by 
people  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  laborers,  though  not 
belonging  to  their  numbers.  The  German  Printers'  Union 
belongs  to  the  first  class,  which  grew  out  of  a  strike  in  Leip- 
sic,  in  1865  ;  also  the  hat-makers'  association,  established  in 
1871  ;  and  the  union  of  tobacco-workers,  started  in  1865. 
Some  other  classes  of  workers  also  have  unions  stretching 
over  the  German-speaking  countries.  To  the  second  class 
belong  the  unions  started  by  the  Social  Democrat  party,  and 
by  Hirsch  and  Duncker. 

The  Social  Democrat  unions  were  all  dissolved  by  the  Gov- 
ernment under  the  provisions  of  the  Socialist  law,  and  have 
disappeared,  from  the  surface,  at  least.  The  Hirsch  and 
Duncker  unions  are  modelled  after  the  best  English  trade- 
unions,  but  they  have  never  succeeded  in  getting  a  firm  hold 
except  among  the  engineers  of  Berlin. 

The  trade-unions  in  Italy  did  not  take  their  rise  until  after 
1870,  but  since  that  time,  in  spite  of  prohibitions  and  severe 
police  regulations,  they  have  continued  to  grow.  The  old 
friendly  societies  are  being  rapidly  converted  into  real  trade- 
unions  with  similar  organizations  and  ends  to  those  of  En- 
gland. They  seem  destined  to  grow  and  multiply,  as  they 
fill  a  great  demand  wherever  there  is  a  class  of  laborers  some- 
what raised  above  the  lowest  level  of  existence. 

We  can  take  but  the  merest  glance  at  the  development  of 
the  trade-unions,  and  must  limit  ourselves  to  a  few  of  those  in 
England.  The  largest  individual  trade  society  in  England  is 


62  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

reckoned  to  be  that  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers, 
Machinists,  Mill-wrights  and  Pattern-Makers,  founded  by  the 
amalgamation  of  a  large  number  of  different  societies  in  1851. 
This  society  had,  the  year  before  the  great  lock-out  in  1852, 
11,829  members,  and  a  balance  of  cash  of  £21,705.  That 
fierce  fight  with  employers  brought  down  the  numbers  to 
9,737,  and  the  reserve  fund  to  £17,812,  in  1853.  At  that  time 
it  was  thought  that  trade-unionism  had  received  its  death-blow. 
This  calculation  was  premature.  In  1865  this  society  num- 
bered 30,984  members,  with  an  income  of  £75,672,  and  a 
clear  balance  in  hand  of  £115,357.  It  had  229  branches  in 
England  and  Wales,  32  in  Scotland,  n  in  Ireland,  6  in 
Australia,  2  in  New  Zealand,  5  in  Canada,  i  in  Malta, 
8  in  the  United  States,  and  I  in  France;  a  total  of  295. 
The  total  expended  by  it  had  been,  during  fifteen  years, 
£484,717. 

The  Amalgamated  Society  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners 
affords  another  instance  of  these  vast  trade  organizations. 
Although  it  was  not  established  until  1860,  it  grew  rapidly, 
having  in  1865  more  than  8,000  members,  in  187  or- 
ganizations. It  expended  in  the  last  mentioned  year 
£11,808. 

Eighteen  of  these  societies,  which  were  examined  by  the 
Trades-Unions  Commission  of  1869,  had  more  than  two  hun- 
dred thousand  members;  and,  besides  these,  many  societies 
existed  which  did  not  come  forward  by  delegates  before  the 
Commission.  The  number  of  members  in  all  these  various 
trades-unions  in  1865  was  estimated  by  the  unionists  them- 
selves to  be  not  far  from  seven  hundred  thousand.  In  the 
face  of  these  figures,  and  of  the  evidence  given  before  the 
Trades-Unions  Commission,  the  accusation  of  secrecy  against 
these  bodies  —  so  commonly  launched  against  them  —  must 
disappear.  Such  accusations  simply  show  that  those  who 
make  them  know  nothing  of  the  facts,  and  wish  to  prevaricate 
the  facts  for  bad  purposes.  It  is  difficult  for  four  or  five  hun- 
dred men  to  conspire  secretly  at  any  time  ;  especially  so  when 
they  meet  in  conference  at  public  rooms  and  halls,  under  the 
eye  of  newspaper  reporters,  and  publish  their  proceedings 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    TRADES-UNIONS.  63 

afterward  to  the  whole  world.  Nor  can  anything  be  franker 
than  the  testimony  of  the  officers  of  these  societies  before  the 
Commission.  The  Secretary  of  the  Amalgamated  Engineers 
brought  forward  the  imprinted  by-laws,  which  are  read  to 
candidates  for  admission,  and  whether  these  may  be  consid- 
ered bad  or  good  political  economy  they  have  certainly  noth- 
ing criminal  about  them.  The  details  given  by  him  and 
others  relating  to  the  constitution  of  the  societies  are  both 
most  copious  and  most  interesting.  It  is  true  that  all  this 
power  of  organization,  instead  of  being  accepted  as  an  evi- 
dence of  social  development,  was  treated  by  some  as  only  a 
cause  of  alarm  to  other  classes.  "  I  shall  not  refer  to  the  sub- 
ject of  strikes,"  said  Mr.  Lowe,  in  his  speech  of  May  3,  1865, 
on  Mr.  Baine's  motion  of  reform,  "but  it  is,  I  contend,  impos- 
sible to  believe  that  the  same  machinery  which  is  at  present 
brought  into  play  in  connection  with  strikes  would  not  be 
applied  by  the  working  classes  to  political  purposes.  Once 
give  the  men  votes,  and  this  machinery  is  ready  to  launch 
those  votes  in  one  compact  mass  upon  the  institutions  and 
property  of  the  country."  As  if  the  Amalgamated  Society  of 
Engineers,  with  its  thirty  thousand  members  which,  in  1865, 
spent  over  £14,000  in  donations,  sending  members  to  situa- 
tions and  beds  for  non-free  members,  £13,785  for  sick 
benefits,  stewards  and  medical  certificates,  £5,184  for  super- 
annuation benefit,  £4,887  for  funerals,  £i, 860  for  accidents, 
etc.,  etc.,  were  not  an  institution  !  As  if  the  workman's  labor 
were  not  as  truly  property  as  that  capital  which  it  enables  to 
accumulate.  As  if  it  were  likely  that  the  great  trade  societies 
have  accumulated  their  capital  of  thousands  of  pounds,  —  tens 
of  thousands,  —  invested  them,  as  many  of  them  have,  in  post- 
office  savings  banks,  at  two  and  a  half  per  cent.,  rendered 
tens  of  thousands  of  widows  and  of  sick  men  and  of  the  dis- 
abled and  aged  dependent  on  those  funds  in  order  to  "launch" 
votes  in  a  compact  mass  at  institutions  or  property !  The 
calumny  is  so  preposterous  that  it  surely  needed  an  unre- 
formed  House  of  Commons  to  listen  to  it,  and  it  went  far  to 
justify  the  trade  societies  in  claiming  such  a  measure  of  politi- 
cal reform  as  has  rendered  the  like  impossible  henceforth  to 


64  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

be  uttered.  No  man  of  sound  mind  would  make  any  such 
statement  nowadays. 

There  remains  but  one  more  point.  The  progress  of  de- 
mocracy in  Europe  is  continuous  and  irrresistible.  Surely, 
though  in  some  places  slowly,  the  power  is  slipping  from  the 
hands  of  the  privileged  few  into  the  hands  of  the  burdened 
many.  What  use  will  the  latter  make  of  it?  Will  they  be 
as  shorted-sighted  and  selfish  as  the  few  have  been?  If  so, 
the  latter  can  not  complain  and  some  good  at  least  will  be 
done  since  more  will  be  benefited  by  such  selfishness  than  at 
present.  But  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  their  rule 
will  be  characterized  by  more  good  sense,  probity  and  wisdom 
than  that  of  their  predecessors.  Surely  it  is  cause  for  pride 
on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  workingman  to  hear  such 
testimony  as  that  of  J.  M.  Ludlow,  who  says,  at  the  end  of  an 
extended  history  of  labor  legislation  in  England  since  1832, 
that  in  looking  back  over  the  intervening  time  and  calling  to 
mind  the  great  contests,  social,  moral  and  political,  which 
have  occurred,  it  will  be  found  that  the  workingmen  of  En- 
gland, in  all  the  great  centers  of  industry,  gave  what  strength 
and  influence  they  possessed  to  that  side,  which  experience  has 
since  demonstrated  to  have  been  in  the  right.  Their  course, 
wherever  they  have  been  fairly  treated,  has  been  marked  by 
as  much  thought  and  unselfishness  as  that  of  any  other  large 
class  in  the  community.  They  have  wisely  used  every  ad- 
vantage which  has  come  to  them.  They  have  disappointed 
the  Cassandrian  prophecies  of  their  enemies,  who  claimed  that 
it  was  unsafe  to  shorten  their  hours  of  labor,  because  they 
would  but  use  their  leisure  for  the  purpose  of  dissipation. 
They  have  fulfilled  the  most  hopeful  anticipations  of  their 
friends.  They  have  given  ample  evidence  that  they  will  use 
their  rapidly  increasing  preponderance  in  politics  in  the  inter- 
est of  freedom  and  justice.  No  better  illustration  of  this  can 
be  found  than  in  their  course  in  regard  to  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion and  the  abolition  of  wage-slavery. 

It  is  certain  that  at  a  time  when  the  workingmen  of  En- 
gland had,  as  God  knows,  grievances  enough  to  complain  of, 
they  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  pleadings  for  the  rights  of  the 


PROGRESS    OF    EUROPEAN    DEMOCRACY.  6$ 

African  slave  ;  that  anti-slavery  meetings  were  always  largely 
attended  by  workingmen.  But  there  is  one  crowning  instance 
which  Americans  above  all  people  in  the  world  should  never 
forget,  in  which  the  working  classes  may  be  said  to  have  de- 
cided the  policy  of  England,  when  the  voice  of  the  people 
proved  truly  to  be  the  voice  of  God.  At  a  time  when  every 
evil  influence  under  heaven  seemed  combined  to  force  En- 
gland into  abetting  the  slaveholders'  secession,  when  the  cot- 
ton famines  and  blackade-runners'  profits,  the  French  despot 
and  the  Times,  the  country-party  and  the  ship-owners,  Mr. 
Carlyle  and  half  the  piety  of  England,  were  urging  the  coun- 
try on  to  a  course  which  all  now  feel  would  have  been  one  of 
headlong  and  ruinous  folly,  the  workingmen  of  Lancashire 
stood  firm  and  fast  to  the  holy  principle  of  human  freedom. 
Sublimely  patient,  far-seeing  beyond  speculators  and  states- 
men, they  could  meet  in  the  midst  of  their  own  deep  distress 
caused  by  the  continuance  of  the  war,  to  congratulate  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  on  his  proclamation  of  emancipation  ;  and  at  the 
time  when  any  expression  of  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  the 
"  Union  "  was  sure  to  meet  with  fierce  scorn  and  self-compla- 
cent derision  in  the  House  of  Commons  as  well  as  on  every 
'change  throughout  the  country,  they  never  wavered  in  their 
firm  faith  of  its  ultimate  triumph.  Abraham  Lincoln  recog- 
nized the  meaning  of  this  expression  of  sympathy,  and  re- 
plied in  a  letter  of  the  ipth  of  January,  1863  :  "  Under  the 
circumstance  I  can  not  but  regard  your  decisive  utterances 
upon  the  question  as  an  instance  of  sublime  Christian  heroism, 
which  has  not  been  surpassed  in  any  age  or  country."  May 
this  prove  to  be  a  forecast  of  the  way  in  which  the  laboring 
man  will  use  his  growing  power  in  every  country  for  all  time 
to  come. 

The  history  of  the  laborer  and  his  condition  in  every  Euro- 
pean country,  whether  in  agriculture  or  the  mechanic  arts, 
\vhether  in  the  fifteenth  or  the  nineteenth  century,  proves  in- 
disputably the  result  of  two  facts  :  first,  that  the  laboring  class 
owe  nearly  the  whole  improvement  of  their  condition  to  their 
own  efforts ;  second,  that  they  have  ordinarily  been  able  to 
protect  their  own  interest  only  by  combination.  Whenever 

(5) 


66  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

the  laborers  have  been  too  poor,  too  indolent,  too  selfish,  too 
short-sighted  to  combine,  there  they  have  fallen  an  easy  prey 
to  their  enemies ;  wherever  they  have  had  the  requisite  public 
spirit  and  wisdom,  they  have  never  failed  to  better  their  own 
condition  and  with  that  the  condition  of  the  great  majority  of 
their  fellow-countrymen. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT    IN    AMERICA    TO    l86l. 

PLYMOUTH  THE  STARTING-POINT  OF  THE  FREE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  —  FREE 
AND  SLAVE  LABOR  —  EARLY  ASSOCIATIONS  OF  LABOR  —  CLASS  DIS- 
TINCTIONS—  WAGES  REGULATED  BY  LAW — AN  EARLY  BOYCOTT  — 
EARLY  STRIKES  AND  ORGANIZATIONS  —  FIRST  EPOCH  OF  THE  PRES- 
ENT MOVEMENT  —  FIRST  EXPERIMENT  IN  COMMUNITY  LIFE — TIME 
MONEY,  1829  —  LABOR  MEN  PIONEERS  IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  MOVE- 
MENT—  YANKEE  GIRLS  —  AGITATION  FOR  THE  TEN-HOUR  WORK-DAY 
— WORKINGMEN'S  PARTY  —  PROTEST  AGAINST  LAND  TRAFFIC  —  NEW 
ENGLAND  CONVENTION  OF  FARMERS  AND  MECHANICS  —  SHIP-CARPEN- 
TERS AND  CALKERS  AND  MERCHANTS  OF  BOSTON  —  CONNECTICUT 
CARPET-WORKERS'  CONSPIRACY  CASE — FOURTH  OF  JULY  CELEBRATION, 
BOSTON,  1834  —  STRIKES  OF  CARPENTERS,  STONE  CUTTERS,  HORSE- 
SHOERS,  LONGSHOREMEN  AND  RIGGERS  —  MILITARY  UNDER  ARMS  IN 
NEW  YORK  CITY- — FACTORY-GIRLS'  STRIKE  OF  1838  —  TEN-HOUR 
PROCLAMATION  OF  PRESIDENT  VAN  BUREN — JOURNEYMEN  BOOTMAK- 
ERS' CONSPIRACY  CASE — JUDGE  SHAW'S  DECISION  —  LABOR  LITER- 
ATURE, 1838  TO  1851 — NEW  ENGLAND  PROTECTIVE  UNION — NEW 
ENGLAND  WORKINGMEN'S  ASSOCIATION  —  TEN-HOUR  MOVEMENT  IN 
PITTSBURGH  —  FIRST  INDUSTRIAL  CONGRESS,  1845  —  CONVENTION  OF 
CARPET  WEAVERS  —  PUBLIC  MEETING  OF  MACHINISTS  —  SYMPATHY 
WITH  THE  CHARTISTS  AND  REPEALERS  OF  ENGLAND  AND  IRELAND  — 
PROTEST  AGAINST  CHEAP  LABOR  —  WENDELL  PHILLIPS  ON  THE  LABOR 
QUESTION,  1847  —  ATTEMPT  TO  BOYCOTT  A  LABOR  MAN  IN  MAINE  — 
TYPOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY  TO  THE  PRINTERS  OF  PARIS  —  INDUSTRIAL 
CONVENTIONS  AND  CONGRESSES  —  CO-OPERATIVE  IRON  MOULDERS  — 
HORACE  GREELEY  BEFORE  THE  PRINTERS  —  FACTORY  OPERATIVES' 
STRIKE  OF  1851 — SHIP-WORKERS  ON  OLD  WORK  GAIN  THE  EIGHT- 
HOUR  DAY  —  FIRST  EPOCH  OF  THE  SOCIAL  REVOLUTION  ENDS  IN  THE 
WAR  AGAINST  CHATTEL  SLAVERY. 

PLYMOUTH  and  Jamestown  are  the  two  starting  points 
of  the  labor  movement  in  this  country  ;  Plymouth  -repre- 
senting free,  and  Jamestown  chattel  labor.  For  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  these  systems  contended  with  each 
other  for  the  mastery.  Out  of  the  first  grew  the  free  school, 
the  public  library,  the  forum  of  free  debate,  the  wonderful 
control  and  mastery  over  an  unyielding  soil  and  untold 

(67) 


68  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

natural  difficulties,  the  wonderful  inventions  of  the  human 
brain  to  produce  things  with  rapidity  and  cheapness,  giving 
to  labor  the  highest  prosperity  and  highest  attainments  ever 
reached.  Under  this  free  labor  system  the  laborer  became 
the  sovereign  citizen,  holding  an  equal  right  under  the  law  to 
make  laws  and  enforce  them,  each  increasing  responsibility 
leading  to  greater  development,  opening  avenues  of  advance- 
ment in  the  political,  social  and  industrial  world.  The  labor 
movement  of  to-day  came  over  in  the  "May  flower,  "the  found- 
ers of  the  colony,  building  'more  wisely  than  they  knew, 
engrafting  into  their  contract  the  spirit  of  co-operation.  The 
first  industry  established  by  them,  the  fisheries,  partook  of 
this  spirit,  and  each  man  who  handled  a  line  handled  also  his 
share  of  the  profit  of  the  venture.  In  addition  to  the  profit- 
sharing  system  thus  introduced,  the  colony  still  further  pro- 
tected the  fisherman  by  setting  aside  a  certain  part  of  their 
corn  for  the  use  of  the  fishers  in  case  the  cruise  should  be 
unprofitable. 

The  planting  of  the  chattel  system  of  labor  at  Jamestown 
constituted  the  establishment  of  an  oligarchy.  The  virgin 
soil  of  the  South  was  outraged  by  mammon.  To  labor  in  the 
field  was  degradation.  Education  was  for  the  master;  igno- 
rance, for  the  laborer.  The  employer  was  mounted  in  the 
saddle,  the  laborer  was  on  foot ;  the  one  holding  the  whip,  the 
other  the  hoe.  From  the  leisure  of  the  master,  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution,  great  men  were  grown.  The  white 
laborer  became  the  "trash"  of  the  South.  Civilization  was 
stagnant.  The  Plymouth  colony  built  up  the  free  West, 
ringed  the  continent  with  homes,  newspapers  and  churches. 
The  Jamestown  colony  became  dangerous,  and  was  restricted 
within  a  self-destroying  area. 

The  history  of  the  struggle  of  free  labor  on  this  continent 
is  not  complete  without  an  analysis  of  the  spirit  of  commerce, 
as  manifested  in  the  settlement  of  New  York.  The  compro- 
mise between  these  three  factors  —  sentiment  in  affairs,  com- 
merce, and  slavery  —  has  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the 
latter,  the  subversion  of  the  former,  and  the  enthronement  of 
the  spirit  of  commerce.  The  struggle  now  pending  is  for  the 


PLYMOUTH    THE    STARTING    POINT.  69 

restoration  of  sentiment,  or  the  restoration  of  the  moral  rela- 
tion of  man  to  man. 

Ship-building,  being  the  most  important  of  the  early  in- 
dustries, and  the  skilled  craftsmen  being  emigrants  from 
England,  where  trades  organizations  then  existed,  it  is  very 
evident  that  some  form  of  organization  existed  among  them. 
Their  acts  show  an  agreement  or  mutual  understanding  in 
reference  to  rules  governing  their  craft,  —  rules  that  finally 
had  the  strength  of  custom,  and  were  maintained  after  many 
struggles. 

The  first  historical  mention  we  have  of  a  craftsman  is  found 
in  the  History  of  Plymouth,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  in  1621 
a  carpenter  and  saltmaker  were  sent  to  the  colony  by  the 
adventurers.  "  The  carpenter,"  says  Governor  Bradford,  "  is 
an  honest  and  very  industrious  man,  who  very  quickly  built 
us  two  very  good  and  strong  shallops,  with  a  great  and  strong 
lighter ; "  but  it  seems  that  this  carpenter  died  during  the 
summer,  as  Governor  Bradford  says,  "to  our  great  grief,  loss, 
and  sorrow."  This  industry  grew  to  such  large  proportions 
as  to  necessitate  the  bringing  over  of  a  comparatively  large 
number  of  ship-workers.  They  came  mostly  from  the  county 
of  Kent,  where  organizations  of  labor  existed.  The  extent 
of  the  industry  at  that  time  is  but  very  little  known  or  appre- 
ciated at  the  present  day.  The  workmen  were  necessarily 
strong,  vigorous  men,  physically  and  mentally.  Their  hours 
of  labor  were  from  sun  to  sun.  That  they  were  the  pioneers 
of  the  labor  movement  in  this  country  will  be  clearly  seen  by  a 
perusal  of  the  chapter  on  the  "Building  Trades,"  to  an  inves- 
tigation of  which  Mr.  Edward  H.  Rogers,  himself  a  ship- 
builder, has  given  much  time. 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  early  days  no  attempt  was  made 
to  form  special  labor  organizations,  the  condition  of  the  colo- 
nies being  such  that  what  was  the  interest  of  one  was  the 
interest  of  all ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  class  distinction 
became  clearly  marked,  and  an  aristocracy  as  strict  as  that 
existing  in  England  had  become  established.  A  man  of 
wealth  and  position  was  termed  "gentleman,"  and  a  man 
of  humble  means,  a  craftsman,  etc.,  "  goodman."  The  social 


7O  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

nature  of  man  necessitated  association,  and  this  desire  for 
association  necessarily  led  to  organization,  and  the  mingling 
together  of  men  at  their  several  crafts  naturally  led  to  organi- 
zations of  fellow-craftsmen ;  but  these  associations  were  at 
first  wholly  of  a  social  character,  with  benevolent  features. 

That  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  first  century  and  a  half 
of  the  history  of  the  colonies,  they  commenced  to  discuss  the 
question  of  wages,  is  evident  from  the  legislation  enacted  in 
the  several  towns  establishing  the  maximum  wages  to  be 
paid. 

In  the  town  of  Newburyport  (1777)  the  following  vote  was 
passed : 

Pursuant  to  "an  Act  of  the  General  Court  to  Prevent  Monopoly  and 
Oppression,"  it  was  voted  by  the  Selectmen  to  establish  the  following  as  the 
Maximum  Wages  to  be  paid  : 

Carpenters 5  shillings  4  pence  per  day. 

Calkers 6 

Day  Laborers,  not  found    ....  4 

Day  Laborers,  found 3 


Joiners 4 

Masons 6 


8  pence 


It  will  be  noticed  that  by  this  vote  the  employers  were  pro- 
hibited from  paying  more  than  a  certain  sum  per  day,  but 
they  were  not  prohibited  from  paying  the  lowest  possible  price 
for  labor. 

Of  strikes  we  have  no  record  up  to  the  present  century, 
unless  the  refusal  to  work  on  Christmas,  as  referred  to  by  a 
recent  historian,  can  be  considered  as- such. 

The  question  of  the  relation  of  the  colonies  to  Great  Britain 
commanded  the  special  attention  of  the  workingmen.  Their 
places  of  meeting  were  the  centers  of  the  discussions  that 
precipitated  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  the  ship-carpenters 
and  calkers,  and  others  of  the  building  trades  were  among 
the  most  earnest  followers  of  Samuel  Adams.  They  doubt- 
less belonged  to  the  several  secret  organizations  like  the  Sons 
of  Liberty,  who,  like  the  order  of  Tammany,  wore  the  para- 
phernalia of  the  native  Indian.  Events  proved  that  Tories 
were  not  found  among  the  workingmen,  but  in  the  ranks  of 


THE    FIRST    STRIKE    IN    AMERICA.  71 

the  aristocratic.  The  class  distinctions,  if  not  also  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor,  which  existed  at  this  time,  are  evidenced  by 
the  following  quotation  from  a  paper  published  in  1775  : 

Do  not  the  threats  of  the  rich  to  distress  the  poor  in  any  shape,  if  the 
last  should  not  in  an  approaching  election  give  their  votes  to  such  men  as  the 
former  direct,  show  an  enslaving  disposition  ?  Can  we  expect  representatives 
chosen  in  this  manner  will  be  faithful  to  preserve  our  liberties?  Have  not  the 
tradesmen  and  laborers  a  glorious  opportunity  now  offered  them  of  asserting 
their  freedom  by  voting,  one  and  all,  according  to  their  own  minds  and 
consciences,  without  paying  the  least  regard  to  the  lordly  dictates  of  their 
employers  ? 

It  is  a  matter  of  tradition  that  the  idea  of  overturning  the 
tea  in  Boston  Harbor  was  first  promulgated  at  a  meeting  of 
the  ship  carpenters  and  calkers,  and  that  these  men  before 
that  sometimes  acted  together  in  political  matters. 

The  Revolutionary  War  naturally  tended  to  the  elimination 
of  the  class  distinctions  which  had  prevailed,  and  a  spirit  of 
individual  independence  permeated  the  laboring  masses  —  a 
spirit  that  has  not  yet  been  wholly  obliterated. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  strike  in  the  country  occurred  in 
New  York  City,  in  1803,  when  a  number  of  sailors  struck  for 
an  advance  of  wages.  It  seems  to  have  been  settled  by  the 
arrest  of  the  leader  and  his  lodgment  in  jail.  That  strikes  of 
craftsmen  had  occurred  prior  to  this  time  it  is  but  natural  to 
suppose,  but  as  they  were  matters  of  minor,  importance  it  is 
difficult  to'find  any  record  of  them. 

Beginning  with  this  century,  the  tailors  appear  to  be  the 
first  to  establish  the  present  form  of  trades-unions,  their 
organization  claiming  to  date  back  to  1806.  Prior  to  that 
date  members  of  that  craft  coming  from  England  continued 
their  membership  in  the  Journeyman  Tailors'  Unions  of  the 
old  country.  The  same  is  true  of  the  hatters,  who  organized 
a  union  of  their  craft  as  early  as  1819.  The  Columbia 
Charitable  Association,  of  Shipwrights  and  Calkers,  was  or- 
ganized between  1825  and  1830.  Local  unions  of  the  print- 
ers are  traced  back  to  1831. 

The  especial  point  of  interest  as  the  formative  period  of  the 
labor  movement  is  from  1825  to  1851.  This  development 


72  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

was  in  the  direction  of  a  demand  for  less  hours  of  labor  and 
higher  wages,  and  in  co-operative  experiments.  The  labor 
men  of  that  day  were  reformers  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
They  were  among  the  first  to  denounce  chattel  slavery  and 
capital  punishment,  and  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  dis- 
placement of  laborers  by  the  introduction  of  labor-saving 
machinery.  The  building  trades  were  in  the  advance  line,  as 
will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  chapter  on  that  subject.  They 
were  sustained,  doubtess,  by  the  factory  operatives,  the  boot- 
makers, tailors,  printers,  and  other  craftsmen. 

New  Harmony,  Ind.,  was  the  scene  of  the  first  experiment 
at  community  life  under  the  idea  of  common  property.  This 
experiment  (1825)  had  the  advantage  of  Mr.  Owen's  ability 
and  money.  With  $1,000,000  at  command,  28,000  acres 
of  very  good  land,  two  libraries,  which  cost  $30,000  each, 
sets  of  scientific  instruments,  and  800  persons  to  try  the 
experiment,  it  failed  after  about  two  years'  trial.  Mr. 
Josiah  Warren,  who  was  a  member  of  this  community, 
and  whose  writings  upon  questions  of  labor,  money,  com- 
merce, etc.,  commanded  the  attention  of  the  labor  reformers 
of  early  days,  was  on  the  point  of  abandoning  all  such  enter- 
prises, when,  as  he  says,  "  a  new  train  of  thought  seemed  to 
throw  a  sudden  flash  of  light  on  past  errors,  and  to  show 
plainly  the  path  to  be  pursued.  This  led  directly  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  that  which  had  just  been  travelled." 
Mr.  Warren  gave  as  the  problem  to  be  solved :  first,  the 
proper,  legitimate  and  just  reward  of  labor ;  second,  security 
of  person  and  property ;  third,  the  greatest  practical  amount 
of  freedom  to  each  individual ;  fourth,  economy  in  the  pro- 
duction and  uses  of  wealth  ;  fifth,  to  open  a  way  to  each  indi- 
vidual to  the  possession  of  land  and  all  other  natural  wealth  ; 
sixth,  to  make  it  the  interest  of  all  to  co-operate  with  and 
assist  each  other,  instead  of  clashing  with  and  counteracting 
each  other ;  seventh,  to  withdraw  the  elements  of  discord,  of 
war,  of  distrust  and  repulsion,  and  to  establish  a  prevailing 
spirit  of  peace,  order  and  social  sympathy.  The  means  of 
solution  he  stated  as  being,  first,  individuality ;  second,  sov- 
ereignty of  every  individual ;  third,  cost  the  limit  of  price ; 


a     O 


it     s 

u  «  £ 


—  o 
«  6, 


<uea3T:3l"±; 
£  £  £  J3  be  2  £  " 

Pii^§|8i 

S.I   SSl! 


•^s 

rt   C 
_J   o 

fe-g 


| 

"O 

u  "O 
SS>3 

ci  •/> 
&,— 
o.2 

|H 

K 

o 


NEW    HARMONY    FOUNDED.  73 

fourth,  a  circulating  medium  founded  on  the  cost  of  labor; 
fifth,  adaptation  of  the  supply  to  the  demand.  George  Jacob 
Holyoake  speaks  of  Mr.  Warren's  system  as  the  developing 
of  the  principle  of  disintegration  which  has  always  been  well 
provided  for  both  in  savage  and  civilized  societies.  In  1842 
Mr.  Warren  again  returned  to  New  Harmony  and  opened  a 
labor  exchange  on  the  principle  of  cost  being  the  limit  of 
price.  Of  this  method  Mr.  Holyoake  writes  :  — 

Mr.  Warren's  mode  of  paying  commission  was  by  charging  the  exchanger 
for  the  amount  of  time  expended  in  effecting  his  business.  The  manager  had 
a  clock  before  him  ;  he  noted  the  time  of  the  customer's  arrival,  and,  when 
the  transaction  was  completed,  charged  him  for  the  time  consumed  in  con- 
ducting it.  It  was  not  the  value  of  the  business  done,  but  the  time  taken  in 
doing  it,  upon  which  the  charge  was  made.  It  might  cost  more  on  this  plan 
to  buy  a  bunch  of  needles  than  a  sack  of  flour. 

Mr.  Warren,  speaking  of  his  system,  says  that  cost  being 
made  the  limit  of  price  would  give  to  a  washerwoman  a 
greater  income  than  the  importer  of  foreign  goods  ;  that  this 
would  entirely  upset  the  present  system  of  national  trade,  stop 
all  wars  arising  out  of  the  scramble  for  the  profits  of  trade, 
and  demolish  all  tariffs,  duties,  and  all  systems  of  policy  that 
give  rise  to  them ;  would  abolish  all  distinctions  of  rich  and 
poor ;  would  enable  everyone  to  consume  as  much  as  he  pro- 
duced, and  consequently  prevent  anyone  from  living  at  the 
cost  of  another  without  his  or  her  consent.  The  circulating 
medium  to  be  used  in  equitable  commerce  consisted  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  hours  of  labor  of  a  definite  kind.  We  give  a 
copy  of  this  form  of  note  with  the  verbal  explanation,  as 
printed  by  him  in  "  Periodical  Letters  on  Principles  of  Pro- 
gress." Mr.  Warren  afterwards  moved  to  Thompson  Station, 
L.  I.,  where  with  others  he  made  an  attempt  to  carry  out 
his  principles.  His  attempts  may  be  considered  failures, 
although  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  theories  left  a  lasting 
impression  upon  many  minds.  Of  the  other  experiments, 
notably  of  that  of  the  Brook  Farm  Community,  at  communal 
life  no  mention  need  be  made  in  this  volume,  as  they  are 
already  covered  by  historians  of  their  own. 

As  early  as  1825  the  agitation  of  social  and  economic  ques- 
tions was  commanding  the  attention  of  thinkers  and  philan- 


74  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

thropists,  representatives  of  labor  organizations  bringing  to 
public  notice  the  dangers  of  overwork,  low  wages,  and 
poverty.  A  paper  published  in  Boston  in  1826-9  reports  that 
in  1826  five  hundred  and  thirty-one  persons  were  dependent 
upon  charity  for  support  in  Portsmouth,  N.H.,  and  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Hertell,  in  an  article  on  intemperance,  speaks  of  the 
poverty  of  the  working  classes  as  one  of  the  causes  of  intem- 
perance. In  the  same  paper  the  attention  of  manufacturers  is 
called  to  the  dangers  of  factory  operatives,  and  demands  are 
made  that  suitable  rooms,  lodgings,  etc.,  be  provided  for 
them  ;  means  for  "  preventing  the  rich  from  swallowing  up 
the  inheritance  of  the  poor  of  the  land"  are  commended  ;  and 
"  the  injurious  consequences  to  the  community  of  individuals 
amassing  large  landed  property,"  are  commented  upon. 
Social  unions  of  different  crafts  wrere  springing  up  in  the 
principal  cities  and  manufacturing  centres.  The  cotton  mill 
operatives,  being  amongst  the  most  oppressed,  were  agitating 
among  themselves  methods  of  relief  and  remedy,  the  women 
weavers  —  Yankee  girls  —  leading  in  the  agitation  and  per- 
fecting organization. 

In  New  York  City  the  ship  carpenters  and  calkers  were 
commencing  the  agitation  for  the  ten-hour  work  day,  and  all 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  where  ships  were  being  built,  and 
on  the  rivers,  these  sturdy  men  were  preparing  for  the  first 
great  movement  in  the  emancipation  of  labor.  In  spite  of 
their  long  hours  of  toil  they  found  time  to  discuss  their  griev- 
ances. Strikes  of  small  magnitude  occurred,  sometimes 
resulting  in  success,  and  sometimes  in  failure.  They  were 
not  considered  of  sufficient  importance  to  command  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  press  of  that  day.  It  seemed  to  be  the 
opinion  of  some  of  the  cultured  people,  that  the  workingmen 
had  no  legal  right  to  strike,  and  when  the  imported  laborers 
on  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal  struck,  in  1829,  they  were 
arrested;  but  upon  being  brought  before  a  judge,  on  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  were  discharged,  the  judge  deciding  that 
the  case  did  not  come  under  the  statute  of  1815.  We  are 
unable  to  learn  whether  these  laborers  had  been  imported  to 
take  the  places  of  other  workmen,  or  whether  they  had  been 


THE  WORKWOMEN'S  TICKET,  1838.  75 

imported  originally  because  they  could  be  obtained  at  lower 
rates  of  wages. 

The  agitation  of  the  preceding  years  had  culminated  in 
demands  for  legislation,  a  mechanics'  lien  law  being  one  of 
the  first  measures  demanded.  In  New  York  a  favorable 
report  was  presented  in  1828,  but  was  not  acted  upon  by  the 
House.  In  the  following  year  meetings  of  workingmen  were 
held  and  protest  made  against  the  action  of  the  legislature, 
and  candidates  pledged  to  support  that  measure.  Prominent 
members  of  the  several  local  labor  organizations  finding  the 
importance  of  public  agitation,  and  the  need  of  legislation, 
organized  a  workingmen's  party,  the  operations  of  that  party, 
being  in  each  instance  local,  and  having  at  one  time  its 
largest  membership  in  Boston,  and  at  others  in  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  At  the  time  of  the  State  election  in  New 
York  in  1829,  a  workingmen's  ticket  was  put  into  the  field. 
Several  other  tickets  were  nominated,  of  which  the  regular 
Republican  ticket  was  supposed  to  be  the  most  popular ;  but 
at  the  close  of  the  first  day  of  the  election  the  workingmen's 
ticket  was  found  to  be  ahead  of  all  others,  and  the  New  York 
papers  expressed  great  alarm,  and  urged  the  people — "bank 
gentlemen,  and  all  who  opposed  regular  nominations" — to 
arouse  themselves  and  oppose  the  ticket,  which  they  did  with 
such  success  that  only  one  of  the  candidates  of  the  working- 
men's  party  was  elected — one  Ebenezer  Ford,  who  was  a 
candidate  for  the  State  Assembly.  The  possibility  of  un- 
seating Mr.  Ford  was  suggested,  which  it  was  claimed  could 
be  done  by  the  Assembly.  This  movement  was  unsuc- 
cessful. One  of  the  opposition  papers  said  of  the  successful 
candidate  :  "  Mr.  Ford,  who  has  succeeded  on  the  working- 
men's  ticket,  is  said  to  be  an  honest  and  sensible  man,  and 
by  no  means  attached  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Free  Enquirers 
or  the  visionary  project  of  the  Agrarians." 

At  the  first  meeting  of  those  who  got  up  the  workingmen's 
ticket  the  following  resolutions  were  passed  : 

Resolved.  In  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  the  first  appropriation  of 
the  soil  of  the  state  to  private  and  exclusive  possession  was  eminently  and 
barbarously  unjust. 


76  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

2.  That  it  was  substantially  feudal  in  its  character,  inasmuch  as  those  who 
received    enormous   and    unequal   possessions   were   lords,    and   those   who 
received  little  or  nothing  were  vassals. 

3.  That  hereditary  transmission  of  wealth,  on  the  one  hand,  and  poverty 
on  the  other,  has  brought  down  to  the  present  generation  all  the  evils  of  the 
feudal  system — and  that  this,  in  our  opinion,  is  the  prime  source  of  all  our 
calamities. 

4.  In  this  view  of  the   matter,  that  the   greatest  knaves,  impostors  and 
paupers  of  the  age  are  our  bankers  —  who  swear  they  have  promised  to  pay 
to  their  debtors  thirty  or  thirty-five  millions  of  dollars  on  demand,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  have,  as  they  also  swear,  only  three  or  four  millions  to  do  it 
•with. 

5.  That  more  than  one  hundred   broken  banks  within   a   few  years   past 
admonish  the  community  to  destroy  banks  altogether. 

6.  That  more  than  a  thousand  kinds  of  counterfeit  banknotes,  from  five 
hundred  dollars  down  to  a  single  dollar,  give  double  force  to  the  admonition. 

7.  That  exemption  is  privilege;  and  as  such,  the  exemption  from  taxation 
of  churches  and  church  property,  and  the  property  of  priests,  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  is  a  direct  and  positive  robbery  of  the 
people. 

No  statement  of  the  measures  by  which  the  evils  com- 
plained of  were  to  be  remedied  can  be  found  in  this  instance ; 
but  the  discussions  were  not  only  upon  the  land  question,  but 
also  upon  the  question  of  lien  laws,  hours  of  labor,  and,  in 
some  places,  an  oppressive  militia  system.  The  resolution 
regarding  the  taxation  of  church  property  is  incident  to  the 
fact  that  the  free  religious  movement  which  was  then  in  the 
warmth, of  its  inception  permeated  these  reform  organizations. 
The  fact  that  the  eloquent  and  impressive  men  and  women 
who  are  termed  here  "free  enquirers  "  sympathized  heartily 
with  all  the  efforts  of  the  poor  and  oppressed,  made  them 
welcome  to  the  meetings  of  the  workingmen,  at  the  same  time 
frightening  away  many  of  the  church-going  conservative 
wage-laborers.  The  papers  opposed  to  the  movement  made 
the  most  of  this  fact,  and  stigmatized  every  effort  in  the  direc- 
tion of  relief  of  labor  as  an  infidel  movement.  The  appear- 
ance of  woman  upon  the  platform  was  also  enlarged  upon  as 
evidence  that  the  whole  movement  was  visionary  and  fraught 
with  danger  to  society.  Frances  Wright  and  Robert  Dale 
Owen  were  especially  condemned,  in  terms  not  always  polite, 
by  the  press. 

The  system  of  long  payments  that  then  prevailed  proved 


FIRST    LABOR    NEWSPAPERS.  77 

disastrous  to  the  workingmen  in  many  instances,  not  only 
because  of  the  truck  system,  which  obtained,  but  by  reason 
of  the  failure  of  some  of  the  manufacturers  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  wages  to  the  employees.  This  led  the  reformatory 
papers  to  demand  legislative  interference  for  the  protection 
of  the  operatives.  The  Workingmen's  Party  still  con- 
tinued, and  newspapers  were  established  in  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  We  have  been 
unable  to  procure  copies  of  these  papers,  but  from  extracts 
in  the  leading  papers  of  the  day,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  were  not  supported  by  the  workingmen,  although 
exhibiting  considerable  editorial  ability. 

The  question  had  attracted  sufficient  public  attention  to 
warrant  the  delivery  of  a  lecture  by  Hon.  Edward  Everett 
before  the  Charlestown  Lyceum,  in  which  he  commended  the 
organization  of  the  Workingmen's  Party. 

A  meeting  of  farmers,  mechanics,  and  other  workingmen 
was  held  at  Boston  on  the  i6th  of  February,  1831.  This 
meeting  took  steps  to  organize  a  delegate  convention,  which 
was  assembled  on  the  6th  of  September,  1832,  in  the  Repre- 
sentative chamber  of  the  State  House  in  Boston.  The  con- 
vention was  a  dignified  and  able  body,  and  its  proceedings 
foreshadowed  the  present  stage  of  the  social  problem. 
Charles  Douglass,  of  New  London,  Conn.,  presided;  and  G. 
W.  Light,  of  Boston,  and  Thomas  Dodd,  of  Providence,  acted 
as  secretaries.  All  of  the  New  England  states  excepting  Ver- 
mont were  represented,  and  delegates  from  New  York  were 
also  present.  The  city  of  Boston  was  represented  by  thirty 
delegates,  among  whom  were  Billings  Briggs,  Timothy  Clax- 
ton,  George  W.  Light,  W.  R.  Stacy,  afterwards  well  known 
as  a  temperance  advocate  and  the  proprietor  of  Stacy  Hall 
which  was  for  a  long  time  the  headquarters  of  the  trades 
assembly,  Ruggles  Slack,  the  father  of  Charles  W.  Slack, 
the  well-known  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Boston  Com- 
monwealth and  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue,  Samuel 
Bassett,  of  Chelsea,  William  D.  Swan,  Colonel  J.  P.  Clapp, 
of  Dorchester,  and  Ebenezer  Seavey,  of  Roxbury.  The 
meeting  was  opened  by  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  who 


78  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

was  afterwards  invited  to  take  a  seat  in  the  convention. 
The  ten  points  submitted  to  the  convention  for  consideration 
were  the  organization  of  a  central  committee  for  each  state, 
the  institution  of  lyceums  or  institutes,  reform  in  the  militia 
system,  the  expediency  of  calling  a  national  convention  of 
workingmen,  the  ten-hour  system,  the  effect  of  banking 
institutions  and  other  monopolies  upon  the  condition  of  the 
laboring  classes,  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  educa- 
tion, (including  the  recommendation  of  such  legislative  enact- 
ments in  relation  to  the  internal  economies  of  factories  as 
should  insure  to  the  operatives  therein  a  competent  degree 
of  instruction),  the  abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  the 
adoption  of  a  national  bankrupt  law,  the  extension  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  in  states  where  the  people  were  then  denied 
its  privileges,  and  the  lien  law  in  favor  of  journeymen  and 
mechanics.  Among  the  other  matters  discussed  were  the 
landed  interests,  taxation,  and  co-operative  trading. 

The  committee  on  official  organ  recognized  a  paper  called 
the  JVciv  England  Artisan,  and  asked  for  its  removal  to 
Boston.  The  committee  on  address  to  the  workingmen 
adopted  the  addresses  of  the  president  and  of  Mr.  Eldredge, 
as  expressing  the  views  of  the  convention.  The  remedies 
which  these  addresses  call  for  were  the  organization  of  the 
whole  laboring  population  of  the  republic,  the  removal  of 
political  questions,  morality,  and  economy  from  the  mere  per- 
sonal and  party  contests  of  that  day,  the  presentation  of  facts 
to  the  consideration  of  all  citizens,  the  selection  from  among 
the  politicians  of  the  respective  parties  whose  moral  charac- 
ter, personal  habits,  relations  and  employments,  as  well  as 
professions  afforded  the  best  guarantee  of  their  disposition 
to  revise  our  social  and  political  system  and  introduce  the 
reforms  demanded,  to  which  was  added  the  fixed  determina- 
tion to  persevere  until  all  wrongs  were  redressed,  and  to 
imbue  the  minds  of  their  offspring  with  a  detestation  of  the 
habits  of  the  aristocracy.  The  president  of  the  convention 
read  a  letter  from  the  workingmen  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  of  history  that  at  the  time  the 
New  England  mechanics  and  farmers  were  in  convention 


THE    TEN-HOUR    MOVEMENT.  7p 

•discussing  these  questions  of  great  social  and  economic  im- 
portance, another  convention  was  being  held  in  South  Caro- 
lina, under  the  lead  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  for  the  purpose  of 
nullifying  an  act  of  Congress,  and  laying  the  foundation  for 
the  Rebellion  of  1861.  The  convention  of  workingmen  had 
been  preceded  by  the  formation  of  an  association  auxiliary  to 
the  New  England  Association  of  Farmers,  Mechanics,  and 
Workingmen.  The  first  meeting  of  this  association  was  held 
at  the  old  Common  Council  Room,  Court  Square,  on  Wednes- 
day evening,  March  14,  1832.  The  resolutions  adopted  at 
the  meeting  speak  of  various  institutions  in  the  country 
organized  for  the  same  object.  On  March  2ist  an  adjourned 
meeting  was  held  for  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  and  the 
officers  and  directors  of  the  association  were  chosen,  from 
which  it  appears  that,  in  addition  to  the  names  already  given, 
S.  Loud,  W.  M.  Kendall,  W.  B.  Lowner,  Henry  Seaver, 
William  Sparrell,  S.  Batchelder,  R.  Smith,  A.  Richardson, 
S.  M.  Russell,  E.  H.  Chamberlain,  and  D.  Hinckley  appeared. 
This  meeting  voted  to  recommend  that  the  mechanics  of  all 
branches  have  meetings  by  themselves,  for  the  purpose  of 
consulting  together,  and  if  possible  come  to  a  mutual  agree- 
ment upon  the  system  of  working  hours. 

On  March  3Oth  the  Shipwrights'  and  Calkers'  Association 
called  a  meeting  for  April  4th,  inviting  master  workmen  to 
attend.  On  May  3d  the  auxiliary  association  discussed  the 
question,  "  Is  the  ten-hour  system  a  benefit  ?  "  On  May  23d 
a  meeting  of  master-carpenters  was  held,  at  which  it  was 
voted  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  master-carpenters,  masons, 
painters  and  slaters,  to  take  into  consideration  the  expediency 
of  altering  the  number  of  hours  which  then  constituted  a 
day's  work. 

On  May  2pth  an  advertisement  was  published,  calling  the 
shipwrights  and  calkers  of  Boston  and  Charlestown  to  meet 
at  four  o'clock  of  the  same  day  on  business  of  importance. 
On  the  same  day  an  advertisement  appeared  in  the  papers 
that  one  hundred  and  twenty  shipwrights  and  calkers,  first- 
rate  workmen,  wanted  employment  in  Boston  or  elsewhere, 
to  which  is  appended  an  additional  notice,  to  the  effect  that 


8O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

a  calker  had  been  employed  by  one  of  the  committee  of  the 
master-builders  under  misrepresentations,  and  that  he  had 
gone  home  to  his  family ;  ending  with  the  warning  that  those 
persons  who  should  come  to  the  city  thereafter  must  govern 
themselves  accordingly.  From  this  advertisement  it  would 
appear  that  the  shipwrights  and  calkers  had  entered  upon  a 
strike,  in  which  the  master-workmen  were  interested  in  favor 
of  the  men. 

The  ten-hour  movement  had  spread  to  other  cities  ;  strikes 
had  been  inaugurated  in  many  places.  A  strike  occurred  in 
New  Bedford,  in  which  some  five  or  six  hundred  mechanics 
and  laborers  were  engaged,  to  regulate  wages  and  hours  of 
labor.  They  held  daily  meetings  and  engaged  the  town  crier 
to  announce  them. 

While  this  movement  of  the  men  for  shorter  hours  was 
being  agitated,  the  merchants  and  shipowners  of  Boston  were 
not  idle  They  held  a  meeting  at  the  Exchange  Coffee 
Rooms  on  the  I5th  of  May,  at  which  there  was  but  one  senti- 
ment as  to  the  course  which  ought  to  be  pursued,  as  the 
report  says,  "  to  discountenance  and  check  the  unlawful  com- 
bination formed  to  control  the  freedom  o/  individuals  as  to  the 
hours  of  labor,  and  to  thwart  and  embarass  those  by  whom 
they  are  employed  and  liberally  paid."  The  report  con- 
tinues, "  setting  forth  the  pernicious  and  demoralizing  ten- 
dency of  these  combinations,  and  the  unreasonableness  of  the 
attempt,  in  particular  where  mechanics  are  held  in  so  high 
estimation,  and  their  skill  in  labor  so  liberally  rewarded."  A 
long  preamble  and  resolution  was  adopted,  in  which  it  was 
claimed  that  labor  ought  always  to  be  left  free  to  regulate 
itself,  and  that  neither  the  employed  nor  the  employer  should 
have  the  power  to  control  the  other ;  that  all  combinations  to 
regulate  the  price  and  hours  of  labor,  or  to  restrain  individual 
freedom  and  enterprise  were  at  all  times  attended  with  per- 
nicious consequences  ;  that  they  looked  with  deep  regret  upon 
the  course  pursued  by  their  fellow  citizens,  the  journeymen, 
in  the  adoption  and  maintenance  of  a  system  of  measures 
designed  to  coerce  individuals  of  their  craft,  and  to  prescribe 
the  time  and  manner  of  that  labor  for  which  they  were  liber- 


OPPOSING    ORGANIZED    LABOR.  8l 

ally  paid.  They  claimed  that  such  organization  and  action 
would  drive  the  trade  from  the  city,  and  concluded  that  they 
would  discountenance  all  associations  and  combinations, 
saying  :  "  We  will  neither  employ  any  journeyman  who  at 
the  time  belongs  to  such  combinations,  nor  will  we  give  work 
to  any  master  mechanic  who  shall  employ  them  while  they 
continue  thus  pledged  to  each  other  and  refuse  to  work  the 
hours  which  it  has  been  and  is  now  customary  for  mechanics 
to  work."  These  resolutions  were  signed  by  the  representa- 
tives of  one  hundred  and  six  firms. 

The  merchants  at  this  time  were  the  employers  of  the  mas- 
ter mechanics,  and  evinced  by  their  action  the  same  spirit 
that  has  been  manifested  in  later  years ;  namely,  the  denial 
of  the  right  of  the  workingmen  to  organize  for  protection, 
while  claiming  that  right  for  themselves.  They  say  that 
neither  the  employed  nor  the  employer  should  have  the  power 
to  control  the  other,  and  then  add  that  they  will  not  employ 
any  journeyman  who  belongs  to  an  organization,  or  give 
work  to  any  master  mechanic  who  employs  such  a  journey- 
man, thus  effectively  introducing  the  boycott  in  its  most  per- 
nicious form.  On  May  ipth  a  general  meeting  of  house  and 
ship-joiners  was  held,  in  which  Mr.  John  Hunt  acted  as 
chairman,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Gould,  Jr.,  as  secretary.  It  was- 
voted  that  so  far  as  laid  in  their  power  they  would  use  every 
exertion  to  persuade  their  employers  to  allow  their  hands 
three  hours  instead  of  two  for  their  meals  during  the  hot 
months  of  summer,  and  also  allow  them  to  quit  work  on 
Saturdays  at  six  o'clock,  P.M.,  commencing  June  1st.  The 
history  of  the  movement  for  ten  hours  at  this  time  is  a  part  of 
the  history  of  the  building  trades,  and  will  be  found  in  the 
chapter  under  that  head. 

It  is  evident  that  the  movement  was  a  failure,  as  far  as 
immediate  success  was  concerned.  But  it  resulted  in  the 
increase  of  organization,  and  in  an  increased  member- 
ship. 

In  July,  1833,  the  workingmen  in  the  Thompsonville  (Ct.) 
Carpet  Factory  struck  for  an  advance  of  wages,  and  the  Car- 
pet Company  sued  some  of  the  strikers  for  conspiracy ;  the 

(6) 


82  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

question  at  issue  being  whether  the  workmen  had  a  right  to 
refuse  to  work,  or  to  conspire,  or  agree  together  not  to  work 
for  less  than  a  certain  sum.  The  court  charged  the  jury  in 
the  negative,  but  the  verdict  was  given  for  the  defendants. 

The  workingmen  of  Baltimore  celebrated  the  I2th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1833,  as  a  holiday,  and  nominated  two  candidates  for 
the  State  Legislature. 

In  1833  the  journeymen  shoemakers  of  Geneva,  New  York, 
succeeded  in  forcing  their  employer  to  dismiss  one  of  the  em- 
ployees, the  reason  not  being  given,  but  the  employer 
retaliated  upon  his  men  by  having  some  of  them  indicted  and 
punished  for  conspiracy. 

A  mechanics'  convention  met  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  August  20, 
1834,  to  protest  against  convict  labor. 

The  leaders  of  the  movement  saw  the  necessity  of  a  more 
complete  organization  of  the  trades.  Efforts  to  bring  them 
together  culminated  in  a  meeting  January  8,  1834,  when  a 
general  trades-union  of  the  mechanics  of  Boston  and  vicinity 
was  formed.  A  circular  was  issued  proposing  a  plan  of 
organization,  which  was  responded  to  by  sixteen  local  unions, 
who  held  a  meeting  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  March  and 
adopted  a  constitution  which  was  subsequently  ratified  by  the 
different  trades.  This  was  the  first  organization  of  this  kind, 
and  may  be  considered  the  parent  trade  assembly  or  central 
trade  and  labor  union.  Under  the  auspices  of  this  organiza- 
tion arrangements  were  made  for  the  celebration  of  the  4th 
of  July,  consisting  of  a  procession,  oration,  and  dinner.  This 
first  effort  proved  successful.  About  two  thousand  men  par- 
ticipated. They  marched  through  the  principal  streets,  pre- 
ceded by  bands  of  music  and  carrying  banners.  The  oration 
was  delivered  by  Frederick  Robinson  of  Marblehead  in  the 
open  air  on  Fort  Hill ;  and  the  dinner,  at  which  a  thousand 
plates  were  laid,  was  served  in  Faneuil  Hall.  A  special 
feature  of  the  procession  was  the  new  ship  "  Mechanic,"  fully 
rigged,  and  manned  with  four  pieces  of  cannon,  drawn  by 
twenty-four  white  horses.  The  ship  was  twenty-four  and  a 
half  feet  long,  and  thirty-seven  and  a  half  feet  high  to  the 
top  of  the  mast,  and  was  built  expressly  for  the  occasion. 


THF    PARENT    TRADE   ASSEMBLY.  83 

On  July  8th  the  committee  published  a  card  in  the  papers, 
thanking  the  military  company  for  their  escort,  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  Federal  Street  Theatre  for  the  use  of  furniture, 
the  commandant  of  the  Navy  Yard  for  the  use  of  decorations, 
the  North  End  Artillery  for  the  grand  salute,  those  citizens 
who  decorated  their  houses,  the  reader  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  toast-master,  and  the  editors  who  gave 
favorable  notices.  From  the  oration  we  quote  a  few  para- 
graphs :  — 

We  are  jet  but  a  half-educated  and  a  half-civilized  people.  But  few  are 
educated  in  one-half  of  their  faculties,  and  the  people  in  the  other  half.  The 
many  have  been  obliged  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  bodily  labor,  while  the 
powers  of  the  mind  have  been  almost  wholly  neglected.  The  millions  have 
been  lulled  into  a  fatal  security,  while  the  thousands  have  been  active  in 
promoting  their  own  interests.  The  speaker  alluded  forcibly  to  the  usurpa- 
tions of  the  judiciary,  and  called  for  legislative  interference  with  the  hours  of 
labor  in  the  factories. 

The  following  statement,  which  is  self-explanatory,  was 
made  by  the  committee  at  the  dinner  : 

The  committee  of  arrangements  have  an  apology  to  make  to  their  fellow 
citizens.  We  regret  to  say  that  no  one  of  our  respected  clergy  are  present. 
Application  having  been  made  to  twenty-two  different  societies  for  the  use  of  a 
meeting-house  on  this  day  for  trades-unions,  the  doors  of  all  were  shut  against 
us,  and  under  the  circumstances  your  committee  felt  a  delicacy  to  apply  to 
any  clergyman  to  officiate  at  the  table,  lest  he  might  consider  it  an  affront. 

One  of  the  toasts  was  "  Our  brethren  at  New  York.  They 
have  struck  the  first  blow  at  oppression ;  may  success  attend 
and  prosperity  crown  all  their  lawful  undertakings.  "  From 
this  toast  it  appears  that  the  movement  for  ten  hours  in  New 
York  City  had  culminated  in  a  strike.  Very  little  is  known  of 
the  connected  history  of  the  movement  in  the  building  or  other 
trades.  In  the  chapter  devoted  to  that  subject,  interesting 
matter  will  be  found  from  the  pen  of  Captain  Richard 
Trevellick,  an  apprentice  in  the  shipyards  in  New  York 
during  the  early  days  of  the  movement,  and-. now  general 
lecturer  of  the  Order  of  Knights  of  Labor.  It  is  known  that 
the  movement  took  the  same  form  as  in  the  New  England 
States,  public  meetings  being  held,  newspapers  published, 


84  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

pamphlets  issued,  trades  organized,  a  central  union  formed, 
and  the  workingmen's  party  organized  as  before  described. 

One  peculiar  feature  of  the  movement  of  the  shipbuilders  — 
the  pioneers  in  the  movement  —  was  the  inauguration  of  a 
"  Mechanics'  Bell,"  the  story  of  which  is  told  in  the  chapter 
on  the  building  trades.  The  first  strike  of  the  ship  carpen- 
ters of  New  York  proved  unsuccessful,  as  also  did  strikes  of 
other  craftsmen  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

In  Bath,  Me.,  the  ten-hour  question  was  discussed  in  every 
shipyard.  It  is  probable  that  a  strike  occurred  there  which 
proved  unsuccessful. 

The  failure  of  the  Boston  mechanics  in  1832,  together  with 
the  threats  of  prosecution  for  conspiracy  which  were  made  by 
the  merchants,  impeded  the  movement,  and  it  was  not  until 
1836—7  that  the  ten-hour  day  was  gained  on  ship  repairs  in 
that  city,  while  on  new  ship  work  it  was  not  granted  until 
1840. 

In  1835  the  stone-cutters  and  horse-shoers  of  New  York 
city  went  on  strike  for  an  increase  of  wages.  A  strike 
occurred  in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  for  a  shorter  work-day.  In 
many  places  the  employers  organized  and  refused  to  give 
work  to  any  person  belonging  to  a  trades-union,  openly 
declaring  that  the  workmen  should  not  obtain  the  means  of 
supporting  one  another. 

In  the  year  1836  some  French  Canadians  were  engaged  to- 
work  on  a  dam  in  Maine  and  struck  because  they  were  not 
permitted  to  smoke  their  pipes  while  at  work. 

In  the  same  year  twenty-one  journeymen  tailors  in  New 
York  were  punished  for  striking  for  higher  wages  and  pre- 
venting others  by  threats  and  promises  and  various  means 
from  working  except  for  the  prices  fixed  by  the  Tailors' 
Union.  Judge  Edwards  in  his  charge  said  "This  is  not  a 
mere  struggle  between  master  and  workman ;  it  is  one  on 
which  the  whole  harmony  of  the  Union  depended,"  and  con- 
tinuing, he  said  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  such  systems 
in  this  country,  and  that  they  were  of  foreign  origin.  The 
defendants  were  fined  sums  ranging  from  $100  to  $150. 

The  ship  carpenters  of  Boston  having  failed  to  gain  the 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  CARPENTERS,  1835.          &5 

ten  hour  day,  attempted  to  secure  two  hours  for  dinner,  the 
dinner  hour  then  being  one  o'clock.  In  November,  1835, 
the  master  mechanics  of  Boston  held  meetings  at  the  Ex- 
change Coffee  House  to  consider  the  question  of  altering  the 
hours  of  labor.  At  the  last  one  fifty-two  trades  were  repre- 
sented, and  they  resolved  to  fix  the  dinner  hour  at  twelve 
o'clock  instead  of  one,  and  to  petition  the  city  government  to 
have  the  bells  rung  at  the  former  hour. 

The  journeymen  house  carpenters  held  a  meeting  Decem- 
ber 29  at  which  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted  :  — 

Resolved,  That  as  the  mechanic  arts  constitute  one  of  the  principal  con- 
stituents on  which  a  social  and  civilized  community  is  based,  we  as  mechanics 
claim  the  sole  right,  so  far  as  our  trade  is  concerned,  of  regulating  our  inter- 
course with  its  other  important  constituents,  and  that  the  violation  of  this 
right  destroys  the  just  relations  of  society,  and  further  a  community  actuated 
by  judicious  motives  will  preserve  at  all  times  its  inviolate  rights,  the  infringe- 
ment of  which  will  injure  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  any  portion  of  her 
citizens. 

Resolved,  That,  believing  that  ten  hours  a  day  is  amply  sufficient  in  any 
well-regulated  community  to  produce  all  the  requisite  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life,  and  as  it  is  all  that  the  well-being  of  society  requires,  we  hereby 
notify  all  employers  of  labor  that  we  shall  do  all  in  our  power  to  reduce  the 
hours  of  labor  to  that  number  the  ensuing  season,  and  we  caution  employers 
to  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  in  the  example  set  by  the  government  and  citi- 
zens of  Philadelphia  one  well-worthy  the  attention  and  imitation  of  our  own 
citizens,  inasmuch  as  they  have  made  a  practical  application  of  the  principle 
that  man  cannot  with  impunity  resist  nature's  demands. 

Resolved,  That  it  affords  cause  of  congratulation  to  witness  the  spirited 
response  given  to  the  calls  for  this  meeting,  as  it  evinces  no  want  of  zeal  to 
effect  the  object  of  our  desire  the  coming  season. 

The  strike  of  the  carpenters  in  1836  to  secure  ten  hours  was 
a  failure,  as  were  evidently  most  of  the  attempts  of  the  work- 
ingmen  in  that  year.  In  an  address  delivered  before  the 
Boston  Charitable  Mechanics  Association  in  the  fall  of  1836, 
Mr.  T.  L.  Holmer  congratulates  the  people  on  the  failure  of 
the  trades-unions,  in  these  words :  "It  must  be  a  source  of 
high  gratification  to  us  all  to  know  that  a  sense  of  returning 
reason  has  induced  many  of  those  who  took  the  lead  in  the 
late  strikes  to  see  the  error  of  their  ways.  Most  cordially  do 
I  rejoice  at  this  result  that  the  trades  unions  have  been  very 


86  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

generally  abandoned  by  their  members."  The  same  spirit  is 
shown  by  a  hat  and  cap  manufacturer  of  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  in  a  card  which  he  issued  to  the  public  in  April  of  the 
same  year.  In  it  he  states  that  he  "has  now  at  work  four-and- 
twenty  good,  permanent  workmen,  and  several  more  engaged 
to  commence  the  first  of  May,  all  of  whom  are  alike  unaffected 
with  the  brutal  leprosy  of  blue-Monday  habits  and  the  moral 
gangrene  of  trades-union  principles.  Hence  my  binders  may 
rely  upon  steady  employment,  and  the  public  upon  good 
work  punctually  performed ;  and  they  and  myself  find  just 
cause  to  felicitate  ourselves  upon  the  prompt  and  effectual 
disposal,  at  once  and  forever,  of  the  inconvenience,  injustice, 
and  nuisance  of  perpetual  vexations,  regular  combinations 
and  periodical  strikes  from  marauding  gangs  of  transient  and 
tramping  trades-unionists,  who  have  proved  themselves  as 
destitute  of  every  moral  principle  as  they  have  become  notor- 
ious for  their  wickedness  and  folly,  their  presumption,  vio- 
lence and  audacity." 

In  spite  of  the  defections  from  their  ranks,  the  organizations 
continued  their  existence  with  varied  success  and  failure, 
extending  into  other  cities  'and  towns,  and  notably  to  Phila- 
delphia. A  general  strike  for  ten  hours  was  inaugurated  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1835,  and  public  meet- 
ings were  held.  The  result  of  the  strike  seems  to  have  been 
some  modification  of  the  working  hours  and  a  more  complete 
organization  of  the  several  trades.  In  August  of  that  year, 
the  mechanics  employed  in  the  Navy  Yard,  at  Washington, 
left  their  work  and  waited  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  for 
a  redress  of  grievances.  Very  little  satisfaction  was  received, 
and  the  mechanics  returned  to  their  work. 

The  trades-unions  of  Boston  had  at  this  time  leased  a  hall 
for  a  place  of  meeting,  giving  it  the  name  of  "Trades-Union 
Hall."  A  trades-union  course  of  lectures  had  also  been  in- 
augurated, the  subjects  being  phrenology,  history,  witchcraft, 
corporations,  political  economy,  political  education,  Republi- 
can education,  and  the  effect  of  machinery  on  labor.  The 
Journeymen  Cordwainers*  Society  had  become  so  strong  in 
many  places  that  none  but  members  of  the  Association  could 


EXCITING    MEETINGS    IN    NUMEROUS    STATES.  87 

readily  find  work,  as  the  members  of  the  union  refused  to 
work  with  non-union  men.  The  meetings  of  the  working- 
men  at  this  time  had  become  of  enough  importance  to  com- 
mand considerable  space  in  some  of  the  daily  papers,  the 
Democratic  press  more  generally  favoring  the  workingmen 
as  far  as  reports  were  concerned,  and  in  editorials  of  a  con- 
ciliatory nature.  Meetings  seem  to  have  been  held  nearly 
every  week  in  the  large  cities  and  manufacturing  towns  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  and 
Maine,  and  in  Baltimore,  Maryland  ;  and  strikes  were  of  con- 
stant occurrence,  that  of  the  journeymen  stone-cutters  being 
of  considerable  importance,  the  master  mechanics  offering  to 
compromise  on  the  basis  of  two  hours  at  noon.  This  offer 
was  refused,  and  the  strike  continued  and  was  successful ;  in 
New  York  first,  and  afterwards  in  other  places.  The  carpen- 
ters, also,  after  quite  a  number  of  strikes,  succeeded  in  some 
of  the  larger  towns  and  cities  in  securing  the  ten-hour  system. 
A  petition  was  presented  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  Bos- 
ton to  call  a  public  citizens'  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  the 
interest  of  ten  hours.  This  they  refused  to  do,  when  a  news- 
paper correspondence  ensued,  the  reply  of  the  mayor  being 
considered  very  weak.  The  action  which  the  mechanics  desired 
was  to  instruct  the  city  authorities  to  contract  with  the  me- 
chanics or  laborers  employed  by  the  city  government  on  the  pub- 
lic works  on  the  ten-hour  system,  from  the  2oth  of  March  to  the 
2Oth  of  September,  inclusive.  The  trades-union  of  Baltimore 
had  been  actively  engaged  in  perfecting  their  organization, 
and  were  the  first  to  memorialize  Congress  to  enact  a  law 
to  limit  the  hours  of  labor  by  those  employed  on  the  public 
works  to  ten  hours  a  day.  This  memorial  was  brought  up  in 
Congress,  March  21,  1836,  and  after  a  short  debate  was  laid 
on  the  table. 

In  1836  the  longshoremen,  riggers  and  other  employees 
connected  with  shipping  in  New  York  struck  for  an  increase  of 
wages  and  less  hours,  and  upon  finding  that  their  places  were 
being  taken  by  others  not  members  of  their  organizations, 
they  went  from  wharf  to  wharf,  first  requesting  the  workmen 
to  leave  their  work,  and  then,  it  is  claimed,  threatened  them. 


88  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  mayor  ordered  the  military  under  arms,  and,  as  the 
papers  of  that  day  say,  threatened  them  with  ball  cartridges. 
The  same  scenes  were  enacted  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  riot 
was  feared.  The  men  were  finally  obliged  to  return  to  work 
under  much  the  same  conditions  as  when  they  struck. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1837  an  attempt  was  made  by  some 
of  the  employers  to  induce  the  organizations  of  the  ship-work- 
ers on  repairs  to  consent  to  a  reduction  of  wages.  The  form  of 
the  appeal  shows  that  the  trades-union  organizations  had  gained 
great  strength,  for  heretofore  they  had  been  ignored  or  con- 
demned, and  now  they  were  recognized.  The  organizations 
declined  to  accept  such  a  reduction,  and  the  journeymen 
calkers  and  carpenters  presented  a  method  by  which  the  ship- 
building of  the  merchants  could  be  economically  performed 
without  a  reduction  of  wages.  They  say  :  "We  are  now  pre- 
pared and  ready  to  contract  for  the  repairs  of  vessels  of  any 
tonnage,  either  by  the  day  or  job,  in  a  workman-like  manner, 
at  prices  much  less  than  they  have  been  accustomed  to  pay, 
giving  the  merchant  the  opportunity  of  furnishing  his  own 
stock  if  he  prefers  to  do  it,  and  save  paying  a  man  (the  mas- 
ter mechanic)  one  day's  work  in  every  five  for  doing  nothing 
or  worse  than  nothing."  At  this  time  these  craftsmen  were 
receiving  three  dollars  per  day,  but  they  could  not  average 
much  more  than  three  days  in  the  week. 

The  factory  girls  of  this  time  were  school-taught  Americans, 
some  working  at  one  season  in  the  mill  and  teaching  school 
during  short  school  terms.  It  had  been  the  custom  in  manu- 
facturing establishments  to  appoint  the  superintendent  from 
the  ranks  of  those  who  had  advanced  from  the  lower  rounds 
of  the  ladder,  but,  as  the  manufacturing  industries  grew, 
some  of  the  wealthy  families  found  positions  for  themselves 
or  their  sons,  as  agents  of  mills.  A  gentleman  of  distin- 
guished family  had  accepted  the  superintendency  of  a  cotton 
mill  in  Dover,  N.  H.,  and,  having  some  of  the  aristocratic 
habits  of  the  city,  was  made  the  subject  of  ridicule  by  the 
townspeople.  It  is  related  that  one  day  he  stopped  at  the 
hotel,  and  after  he  had  partaken  of  his^  dinner  in  his  private 
room,  he  ordered  a  toothpick.  As  this  was  a  luxury  but  little 


YANKEE    GIRLS    AND    THE    MILL-AGENT.  89 

"known  in  that  locality,  the  porter  brought  up  an  armful  of 
wood,  requesting  the  gentleman  to  whittle  out  his  own  tooth- 
picks. It  is  also  authentically  stated  that  after  moving  his 
family  to  Dover  he  was  annoyed  by  the  croaking  of  frogs  in 
the  mill-pond,  and  accordingly  had  the  pond  drained  off,  and 
employed  some  of  the  mill  hands  to  destroy  the  frogs.  They 
were  gathered,  and,  having  been  first  subjected  to  a  bath  of 
boiling  water,  they  were  buried.  A  proposed  reduction  of 
wages  caused  a  strike  of  the  employees.  The  authority 
from  whom  we  receive  this  story,  now  himself  a  manufac- 
turer, was  then  a  boy  of  about  nine  years,  at  work  in  the 
mill.  The  girls,  by  a  preconcerted  arrangement,  gathered  in 
the  mill-yard  and  sent  word  to  the  agent,  who  appeared  before 
them,  taking  his  stand  at  the  pump  in  the  centre  of  the  yard, 
and  addressed  the  girls.  After  he  had  made  his  speech  to  the 
girls,  which  was  received  with  laughter,  the  girls  proceeded 
with  handfuls  of  cotton  waste  to  cover  his  broadcloth  gar- 
ments with  a  feathery  coating  of  the  material.  The  strike 
lasted  but  a  few  days,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  agent  never 
forgave  the  indignity  perpetrated  upon  him  on  that  occasion. 
During  the  strike  the  girls  placarded  the  fence  of  the  mill- 
yard  and  the  door  of  the  office  with  rhymes  composed  for  the 
occasion.  One  of  them  bore  an  illuminated  heading,  con- 
sisting of  a  large  frog  painted  green,  the  only  stanza  of  the 
rhyme  underneath  which  our  informant  could  remember 
being  :  — 

The  agent  to  the  frog-pond  went, 

To  kill  the  frogs  he  was  intent; 

lie  gave  them  a  dose  of  red-hot  water, 

For  he  thought  to  croak  they  hadn't  oughter. 

This  is  but  an  instance  of  a  peculiar  method  which  some 
of  the  early  strikers  had  of  revenging  themseves  by  making 
verses. 

The  panic  of  1837  naturally  drove  some  of  these  organiza- 
tions out  of  existence,  to  revive  when  more  prosperous  times 
returned,  the  general  economic  movement  being  continually 
in  the  direction  of  less  hours  and  higher  wages.  The  trades 
that  organized  prior  to  1840  were  the  ship  carpenters,  and 


9°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

joiners,  calkers,  house  carpenters,  painters,  roofers,  brick- 
layers, printers,  tailors,  hatters,  saddlers,  cordwainers  or 
shoemakers,  factory  operatives,  marble  and  freestone-cutters, 
coopers,  and  masons,  while  other  craftsmen  were  enrolled  in 
the  Labor  Reform  Associations  or  Workingmen's  Party  of  that 
day.  Literary  institutes  were  formed  by  the  workingmen, 
and  some  of  them  were  of  a  conservative  nature,  notably  that 
of  Bath,  Me.,  1839,  *n  which  the  "members  were  pledged  to 
avoid  exciting  topics,"  but  the  people  were  not  long  satisfied 
with  the  discussion  of  remote  questions,  and  even  the  Bath 
Literary  Institute  was  soon  succeeded  by  a  workingmen's 
union. 

Organization  and  agitation  on  this  subject  finally  attained 
such  magnitude  as  to  warrant  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  Martin  Van  Buren,  in  issuing  a  proclamation  estab- 
lishing the  ten-hour  system  for  all  employees  of  the  United 
States  government  in  the  Navy  Yards. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  the  proclamation,  it  being  an 
extract  from  General  Orders  for  the  regulation  of  the  Navy 
Yard,  Washington,  D.  C.  :  — 

NAVY  YARD,  WASHINGTON,  April  10,  1840. 

By  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  "all  public  establish- 
ments will  hereafter  be  regulated,  as  to  working  hours,  by  the  ten-hour  sys- 
tem." The  hours  for  labor  in  this  yard  will  therefore  be  as  follows,  viz.  : 
From  the  first  day  of  April  to  the  3Oth  day  of  September,  inclusive,  from  6 
o'clock  A.M.,  to  6  o'clock,  P.M.  During  this  period,  the  workmen  will 
breakfast  before  going  to  work,  for  which  purpose  the  bell  will  be  rung,  and 
the  first  muster  held  at  7  o'clock,  A.  M.  At  12  o'clock,  noon,  the  bell  will 
be  rung,  and  the  hour  from  12  to  i  o'clock  allowed  for  dinner,  from  which 
hour  to  6  o'clock,  P.  M.,  will  constitute  the  last  half  of  the  day. 

From  the  last  day  of  October,  to  the  3ist  day  of  March,  the  working  hours 
will  be  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun.  The  bell  will  then  be  rung 
at  one  hour  after  sunrise,  that  hour  being  allowed  for  breakfast.  At  12  o'clock, 
noon,  the  bell  will  again  be  rung,  and  one  hour  allowed  for  dinner,  from 
which  hour,  say  i  o'clock,  till  sundown,  will  constitute  the  last  half  of  the 
day.  No  quarters  of  days  will  be  allowed. 

Although  this  proclamation  affected  only  the  employees  of 
the  government,  it  was  received  with  gladness  by  all  branches 
of  organized  labor,  and  stimulated  them  to  renewed  efforts  in 
the  same  direction.  By  the  force  of  public  sentiment  created 


BIRTH    OF   AMERICAN    SOCIALISM.  pi 

by  the  public  meetings,  and  the  establishment  of  numerous 
labor  and  other  reformatory  papers,  the  hours  of  labor  upon 
Saturday  were  somewhat  reduced  without  resort  to  strikes, 
but  in  many  instances  the  workingmen  were  forced  to  resort 
to  this  method  to  secure  their  ends.  The  movement,  which 
had  been  confined  to  the  larger  cities,  had  now  found  footing 
in  many  of  the  manufacturing  towns,  New  York  and  New 
England  leading.  The  number  of  organized  trades  had  in- 
creased, and  the  movement  had  spread  as  far  West  as  Ohio, 
while  the  discussion  of  the  question  on  the  platform  and  in 
the  press  was  still  more  widely  diffused. 

Governor  Fort,  of  New  Jersey,  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  State  executive  to  recommend  legislation.  In  1841 
he  said  :  "Constant  and  unremitting  toil  prevents  intellec- 
tual improvement,  and  leads  to  physical  and  moral  debase- 
ment." 

It  was  a  period  when  the  intelligence  of  the  country  was 
challenged  by  men  of  remarkable  ability  and  power,  as  well 
as  high  social  position.  The  communities  that  had  been 
formed  by  Robert  Owen,  Josiah  Warren  and  others,  were  the 
centres  to  which  gathered  the  radical  reformatory  spirits  of 
the  age.  The  Brook  Farm  Community  furnished  many  of 
the  most  eloquent  speakers  for  the  platform  of  the  working- 
men,  and,  though  often  disagreeing  in  methods,  these  men  of 
culture  were  united  with  the  men  and  women  of  toil  in 
a  serious  and  earnest  effort  to  overturn  existing  systems  by  a 
peaceful  revolution,  and  the  establishment  of  equity  and 
justice  among  men.  In  fact,  the  movement  was  so  broad  in 
its  character  and  universality  of  demand  as  to  deprive  it  of 
the  advantage  of  a  definite  and  distinct  aim. 

This,  indeed,  was  the  period  of  the  birth  or  awakening  of 
American  socialism.  If  the  audiences  that  gathered  to  listen 
to  Owen,  Brisbane,  Ryckman,  Charles  A.  Dana,  Horace 
Greeley,  Frederick  Robertson,  John  A.  Collins  and  William 
H.  Channing  were  not  large  in  numbers,  they  were  remark- 
able 'in  intelligence.  These  workingmen  and  women  who 
met  in  convention  were  *American  by  birth  as  well  as  by  in- 
stinct. They  were  the  Americans  of  Americans,  believing 


92  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

not  only  in  the  American  idea  of  the  largest  individual  inde- 
pendence, but  also  in  the  methods  of  educational  and  political 
revolution. 

In  some  of  the  crafts,  unions  practically  controlled  thje 
industry,  many  of  the  employers  willingly  complying  with 
their  conditions,  one  of  which  was  that  none  but  union  men 
should  be  employed.  Other  employers  sought  to  break  up 
the  organizations,  and  a  suit  was  brought  against  the  journey- 
men bootmakers  of  Boston  for  a  combination  to  compel,  by 
force  of  numbers  and  discipline,  and  by  imposition  of  fines 
and  penalties,  other  journeymen  to  join  their  societies  and 
masters  to  employ  none  but  members.  This  was  called  an 
unlawful  conspiracy  at  common  law.  The  trial  took  place  in 
the  October  term,  1840,  Robert  Rantoul  having  charge  of 
the  journeymen's  case.  The  court  ruled  against  the  defen- 
dants, and  the  jury  found  them  guilty.  The  case  was  carried 
up  to  the  Supreme  Court  on  exceptions,  and  was  tried  in  the 
March  term  of  1842.  The  exceptions  were  sustained  and 
judgment  arrested.  Recent  events  make  this  case  of  special 
interest,  and  a  full  account  can  be  found  in  "Metcalf's  Su- 
preme Court  Reports,"  vol.  IV.,  page  in.  ;  Commonwealth 
vs.  Hunt  and  others. 

This  was  an  indictment  against  the  defendants  (seven  in 
number)  for  a  conspiracy.  The  first  count  alleged  that  the 
defendants,  together  with  divers  other  persons  unknown  to  the 
grand-jurors,  being  workmen  and  journeymen  in  the  art  and 
manual  occupation  of  bootmakers,  unlawfully,  perniciously 
and  deceitfully  designing  and  intending  to  keep  up,  form  and 
unite  themselves  into  an  unlawful  club,  society  and  combina- 
tion, and  make  unlawful  by-laws,  rules  and  orders  among  them- 
selves, and  thereby  govern  themselves  and  other  workmen  in 
said  art,  and  unlawfully  and  unjustly  to  extort  great  sums  of 
money,  did  unlawfully  assemble  and  meet  together  and  agree 
that  none  of  them  should  thereafter  work  for  any  master  or 
person  whatsoever,  in  the  said  art,  mystery  or  occupation,  who 
should  employ  any  workman  or  journeyman  or  other  person, 
who  was  not  a  member  of  said  club,  society  or  combination, 
after  notice'  given  him  to  discharge  such  workman. 


CORDWAINERS    INDICTED    FOR    CONSPIRACY.  93 

The  second  count  charged  that  the  defendants  did  unlaw- 
fully assemble,  conspire,  etc.,  and  agree  not  to  work  for  any 
master  or  person  who  should  employ  a  workman  not  being  a 
member  of  the  Boston  Journeymen  Bootmaker's  Society,  or 
who  should  break  any  of  their  by-laws  ;  and  that  this  society 
did  compel  a  master  cordwainer  in  Boston  to  turn  out  of  his 
employ  one  Jeremiah  Home,  a  journeyman  bootmaker,  be- 
cause Home  would  not  pay  the  penalty  fixed  in  the  by-laws. 

The  third  count  averred  that  the  defendants  wickedly  and 
unjustly,  intending  unlawfully,  and  by  indirect  means,  to 
impoverish  one  Jeremiah  Home,  and  hinder  him  from  follow- 
ing his  trade,  and  from  getting  his  livelihood  and  support 
thereby,  in  pursuance  of  such  conspiracy  did  wrongfully, 
unlawfully,  and  indirectly  prevent  him  from  following  his  art 
and  occupation. 

In  the  fourth  count  it  was  alleged  that  the  defendants,  un- 
justly intending  to  injure  and  impoverish  one  Jeremiah  Home, 
and  to  prevent  his  earning  his  livelihood,  did  unlawfully  con- 
spire to  prejudice  the  said  Home,  and  prevent  him  from, 
exercising  his  trade. 

The  fifth  count  set  forth  that  the  defendants  unlawfully  con- 
spired to  impoverish  one  Isaac  B.  Wait,  one  Elias  Blanchard, 
and  one  David  Howard,  all  being  master  cordwainers  and 
bootmakers,  and  prevent  and  hinder  them  from  employing 
any  journeymen  bootmakers  who  would  not  become  members 
of  the  society,  or  who  should  refuse  or  neglect  to  pay  any 
sums  of  money  demanded  from  them  by  such  society,  as  a 
penalty  for  the  breach  of  by-laws. 

A  printed  copy  of  the  constitution  of  the  society  was  put  in 
evidence  against  the  defendants  at  the  trial,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  it  might  be  referred  to  by  the  counsel  in  the  argument, 
and  by  the  court  in  considering  the  exceptions. 

Robert  Rantoul  for  the  defendants,  claimed:  — 

As  we  have  no  statute  concerning  conspiracy,  the  facts  alleged  in  the  indict- 
ment state  an  offence,  if  any,  at  common  law,  but  the  English  common  law  of 
conspiracy  is  not  in  force  in  this  State.  We  have  not  adopted  the  whole  mass 
of  the  common  Jaw  of  England  indiscriminately,  nor  of  the  English  statute  law 
which  passed  either  before  or  after  the  settlement  of  our  country.  So  much 
only  of  the  common  law  has  been  adopted  as  is  applicable  to  our  situation. 


94  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Mr.  Rantoul  cited  numerous  authorities,  among  others,  the 
case  of  The  King  vs.  Journeymen  Tailors  (8  Mod.,  10.) 
"In  that  case, "said  Mr.  Rantoul,  "it  was  held  that  a  con- 
spiracy among  workmen  to  refuse  to  work  under  certain 
wages  was  an  indictable  offence.  The  doctrine  of  that  law 
was  not  the  common  law  when  our  ancestors  came  hither, 
and  is  not  suited  to  our  condition."  He  also  claimed  that 
the  report  of  that  case  is  not  to  be  depended  upon,  being 
of  no  authority  and  entitled  to  no  respect.  Mr.  Rantoul 
claimed  that  the  English  statutes  of  laborers  were  the  blind 
struggles  of  the  feudal  nobles  to  avert  from  themselves  the 
effects  of  great  national  calamities.  He  said,  "  a  conspiracy 
to  raise  wages  would  not  be  indictable  in  England,  if  it  were 
not  unlawful  for  an  individual  to  attempt  to  raise  his  wages. 
And  the  indictment,  in  the  case  at  bar  is  bad,  because  each 
of  the  defendants  had  a  right  to  do  that  which  is  charged 
against  them  jointly." 

Attorney-General  Austen  appeared  for  the  Commonwealth, 
and  said  that  the  charge,  in  effect,  was  an  attempt  to  monopo- 
lize by  them  certain  labor  on  their  own  terms,  and  to  prevent 
others  from  obtaining  or  giving  employment. 

Chief  Justice  Shaw,  in  his  decision,  said : — 

The  general  rule  of  the  common  law  is,  that  it  is  a  criminal  and  indictable 
offence,  for  two  or  more  to  confederate  and  to  combine  together,  by  concerted 
means,  to  do  that  which  is  unlawful  or  criminal,  to  the  injury  of  the  public, 
or  portions  or  classes  of  the  community,  or  even  to  the  rights  of  an  individual. 
This  rule  of  law  may  be  equally  in  force  as  a  rule  of  the  common  law,  in  En- 
gland and  in  this  Commonwealth ;  and  yet  it  must  depend  upon  the  local 
law  of  each  country  to  determine,  whether  the  purpose  to  be  accomplished  by 
the  combination,  or  the  concerted  means  of  accomplishing  it,  be  unlawful  or 
criminal  in  the  respective  countries. 

And  again,  he  says  : — 

Without  attempting  to  review  and  reconcile  all  the  cases,  we  are  of  opinion, 
that  as  a  general  description,  though  perhaps  not  a  precise  and  accurate  defi- 
nition, a  conspiracy  must  be  a  combination  of  two  or  more  persons,  by  some 
concerted  action,  to  accomplish  some  criminal  or  unlawful  purpose,  or  to 
accomplish  some  purpose  not  in  itself  criminal  or  unlawful,  by  criminal  or 
unlawful  means. 

After  reviewing  the  indictment,  the  court  stated  the  case  as 
follows : — 


WORKMEN'S  ASSOCIATIONS  NOT  CRIMINAL.  95 

The  manifest  intention  of  the  association  is,  to  induce  all  those  engaged  in 
the  same  occupation  to  become  members  of  it.  Such  a  purpose  is  not  unlaw- 
ful. It  would  give  them  a  power  which  might  be  exerted  for  useful  and 
honorable  purposes,  or  for  dangerous  and  pernicious  ones.  If  the  latter  were 
the  real  and  actual  object,  and  susceptible  of  proof,  it  should  have  been 
specially  charged.  Such  an  association  might  be  used  to  afford  each  other 
assistance  in  times  of  poverty,  sickness  and  distress ;  or  to  raise  their  intel- 
lectual, moral  and  social  condition;  or  to  make  improvement  in  their  art;  or 
for  other  proper  purposes.  Or  the  association  might  be  designed  for  purposes 
of  oppression  and  injustice.  But  in  order  to  charge  all  those  who  become 
members  of  an  association  with  the  guilt  of  a  criminal  conspiracy,  it  must  be 
averred  and  proved  that  the  actual,  if  not  the  avowed  object  of  the  association, 
was  criminal.  Supposing  the  object  of  the  association  to  be  laudable  and 
lawful,  or  at  least  not  unlawful,  are  these  means  criminal?  The  case  supposes 
that  these  persons  are  not  bound  by  contract,  but  free  to  work  for  whom  they 
please,  or  not  to  work,  if  they  so  prefer.  In  this  state  of  things,  we  cannot 
perceive  that  it  is  criminal  for  men  to  agree  together  to  exercise  their  own 
acknowledged  rights  in  such  a  manner  as  best  to  subserve  their  own  interests, 
Suppose  a  class  of  workmen,  impressed  with  the  manifold  evils  of  intem- 
perance, should  agree  with  each  other  not  to  work  in  a  shop  in  which  ardent 
spirits  was  furnished,  or  not  to  work  in  a  shop  with  anyone  who  used  it, 
or  not  to  work  for  an  employer  who  should,  after  notice,  employ  a  journey- 
man who  habitually  used  it.  The  consequences  might  be  the  same.  A 
workman  who  should  still  persist  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  would  find  it 
more  difficult  to  get  employment;  a  master  employing  such  a  one  might,  at 
times,  experience  inconvenience  in  his  work,  in  losing  the  service  of  a  skilful 
but  intemperate  workman.  Still  it  seems  to  us,  that  as  the  object  would  be 
lavrful,  and  the  means  not  unlawful,  such  an  agreement  could  not  be  pro- 
nounced a  criminal  conspiracy. 

On  the  charge  of  depriving  Jeremiah  Home  of  the  profits 
of  his  business,  the  court  gave,  as  an  illustration,  the  case  of  a 
baker,  in  a  small  village,  who  had  the  exclusive  custom  of 
his  neighborhood,  and  who  was  making  large  profits,  and 
the  neighbors,  believing  the  price  of  his  bread  too  high,  after 
proposing  to  him  to  reduce  the  price,  and,  failing,  introduce 
another  baker,  who  set  up  a  rival  establishment  and  sold  his 
bread  at  lower  prices.  "  It  might  be  said  and  proved,"  said 

the  court, 

« 

That  the  purpose  of  the  associates  was  to  diminish  his  profits,  and  thus  im- 
poverish him,  though  the  ultimate  and  laudable  object  of  the  combination  was 
to  reduce  the  cost  of  bread  to  themselves  and  their  neighbors,  We  think, 
therefore,  that  associations  may  be  entered  into,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
adopt  measures  that  may  have  a  tendency  to  impoverish  another,  that  is,  to 
diminish  his  gains,  and  profits,  and  yet,  so  far  from  being  criminal  or  unlaw- 
ful, the  object  may  be  highly  meritorious  and  public  spirited. 


96  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  case  referred  to,  in  8  Mod.,  10,  was  the  case  of  the 
King  against  the  Journeymen  Tailors,  of  Cambridge,  Eng., 
in  1721,  and  was  based  on  the  statute,  7  Geo.  i,  c.  13  (1720). 
As  this  case  shows  the  operation  of  the  conspiracy  law  under 
the  acts  which  held  the  workingmen  practically  in  a  state  of 
bondage,  we  have  given  space  in  the  appendix  for  a  brief 
summary  of  the  case  and  of  the  statute  under  which  the 
defendants  were  prosecuted. 

In  1841  a  firm  of  boat  builders,  in  Bath,  Me.,  consisting  of 
four  partners,  mutually  agreed  to  adopt  the  ten-hour  system, 
and  in  1844,  one  of  the  firm,  then  having  charge  of  a  marine 
railway,  adopted  the  system  on  the  repair  of  vessels.  The 
feeling  was  so  strong  in  favor  of  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of 
labor  that  a  combination  was  formed  of  many  trades,  some 
of  them  not  directly  connected  with  either  house  or  ship- 
building. Public  meetings  were  held,  and  public  sentiment 
was  aroused.  The  failure  of  the  strikes  in  the  preceding 
years  had  made  the  men  extremely  cautious.  So  strong  was 
.the  feeling  that  the  employers  organized  to  offset  the  manage- 
ment, but  public  sentiment  was  too  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
men.  In  a  speech  made  by  a  judge  of  one  of  the  courts,  the 
attention  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  was  called  to  the  proper 
division  of  time  into  three  equal  parts,  "  eight  hours  for  work, 
eight  hours  for  sleep,  and  eight  hours  for  God  and  the  breth- 
ren." All  but  two  of  the  ship-yards  in  Bath  finally  yielded, 
and  ten  hours  became  the  rule  in  that  city. 

The  labor  literature  of  1838  to  1851  was  marked  by  ear- 
nestness of  purpose,  fidelity  to  principle,  and  more  than  ordi- 
nary ability.  A  paper  was  published  in  New  London,  Ct., 
by  Charles  Douglass,  a  prominent  member  of  the  working- 
men's  party,  the  paper  having  but  a  short  existence.  The 
Aivl,  another  paper  advocating  the  claims  of  the  working- 
men,  was  much  copied  from.  It  is  believed  to  have  been 
published  in  Lynn.  No  copies  of  these  papers  can  now  be 
found,  and  the  oldest  labor  paper  before  us  is  entitled  the 
Voice  of  Industry,  with  the  motto,  "  Hearken  to  me  ;  I  also 
will  show  mine  opinion."  As  the  oldest  labor  paper  accessible, 
it  deserves  extended  notice.  It  was  published  in  Fitchburg, .. 


THE       VOICE    OF    INDUSTRY. 


97 


Mass.,  by  an  association  of  workingmen,  W.  F.  Young,  now 
of  Wakefield,  Mass.,  being  the  editor.  The  first  number 
was  issued  Thursday,  May  29,  1845,  and  contained  poetry, 
stories,  lectures,  editorials,  news,  and  a  very  few  advertise- 
ments. Some  of  the  poems  were  original,  and  one  of  those 
appearing  in  the  first  number  was  M  Moral  Warfare,"  by  John 
G.  Whittier.  The  same  paper  contains  an  address  by  the 
editor  before  the  workingmen's  association,  at  Fitchburg, 
upon  the  existing  evils  of  society,  in* which  he  says  :  "In  the 
present  state  of  society,  labor  becomes  disreputable,  friend- 
ship becomes  insincere,  and  religion  becomes  hypocritical." 
.Speaking  of  the  Association  before  which  he  lectured,  he 
said  : 

It  has  no  fellowship  with  the  custom  which  makes  one  portion  of  our  fel- 
lows workingmen  and  women,  and  obliges  them  to  do  all  the  labor,  thereby 
making  it  irksome,  tedious  and  undesirable,  while  the  other  is  revelling  in 
affluence  and  luxury.  We  believe  all  should  labor,  either  physically,  men- 
tally or  morally,  and  that  all  should  enjoy  perfect  freedom  in  selecting  those 
kinds  of  labor  by  which  it  would  become  a  pleasure  rather  than  a  task,  and 
lastly,  that  all  should  receive  such  a  share  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor,  as  will 
conduce  in  the  highest  possible  degree  to  their  happiness.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  none  are  excluded,  that  our  area  extends  wherever  man  is  known ^ 
from  the  civilized  European  down  to  the  cannibals  of  the  South  Sea  Islands- 

In  the  editorial  columns  is  found  the  statement  of  the  im- 
prisonment of  Mike  Walsh,  incarcerated  in  a  New  York 
prison  for  an  "  alleged  libel  against  a  mercenary  villain  who- 
had  long  glutted  his  coffers  by  plundering  the  poor  of  that 
city."  On  visiting  Walsh  in  his  cell,  it  is  said  some  verses 
were  found  penciled  on  the  walls  as  an  apostrophe  to  a  poor,, 
dejected  looking  creature,  which  he  had  skilfully  sketched 
beside  them,  representing  a  laborer  in  search  of  employment, 
We  quote  one  verse  of  the  three  : 


The  wealth  which  ingrate  tyrants  wield 

To  crush  and  starve  us  —  WE  create ; 
The  blood  we  shed  on  flood  and  field, 

Give  greatness  to  the  MISNAMED  great: 
But  short  would  reign  this  favored  few, 

Were  we  but  to  each  other  true. 

C7> 


9»  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

A  touching  incident  regarding  the  factory  system  existing 
at  that  time  is  quoted  in  an  early  number  of  this  paper,  the 
gist  of  which  is  contained  in  the  statement  of  a  young  and 
delicate  girl  of  not  more  than  eight  or  nine  years,  who  said  : 
"  I  go  to  work  before  daylight  in  the  morning  and  never  leave 
it  until  it  is  dark,  and  don't  make  enough  to  support  mother 
and  baby."  In  the  same  paper  statistics  of  several  factories  in 
Lowell  are  given  which  show  the  following  facts  :  that  in  those 
factories  the  capital  was  increased  $500,000  in  1844  ;  that  the 
number  of  spindles  was  increased  11,624;  tnat  tne  number 
of  females  employed  was  decreased  430 ;  that  the  wages  in 
1844  were  two  dollars  per  week,  and  in  1845  were  one  dollar 
and  seventy-five  cents  per  week ;  that  the  number  of  yards 
produced  per  week  was  increased  64,550;  and  that  the  divi- 
dends were  increased  from  four  and  a  half  to  twelve  and  a 
quarter  per  cent.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  operatives 
was  said  to  have  been  effected  by  improvements  in  machinery. 
Referring  to  the  increase  of  two  hundred  per  cent,  in  the 
dividends  and  the  decrease  of  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent,  in 
the  wages  of  the  females,  it  is  stated  that  "  this  is  the  natural 
result  of  the  state  of  things  in  New  England  —  the  more 
wealth  becomes  concentrated  in  a  few  hands,  the  poorer  the 
great  mass  becomes."  It  also  says  :  — 

In  this  state  of  things  the  bounty  offered  to  manufacturers  by  the  tariff  in- 
duced many  of  the  wealthy  men  of  New  England  to  invest  their  capital  in 
manufactures,  which,  when  the  tariff  has  been  high,  proved  exceedingly 
profitable,  concentrating  immense  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  whilst  the 
laboring  part  of  the  community  has  increased  rapidly,  until  the  demand  for 
employment  exceeds  the  want  of  the  employers,  which  has  enabled  them  to 
reduce  the  wages  of  the  operatives  whilst  their  own  profits  were  very  largely 
increased,  and  this  reduction  of  wages  must  continue  to  go  on  with  the  in- 
crease of  that  class  of  society  who  depend  upon  employment  for  subsistence, 
until  thev  arrive  at  a  point  which  will  barely  afford  such  necessities  as  will 
enable  the  human  system  to  undergo  its  daily  toil. 


Among  the  papers  of  this  time  in  sympathy  with  the  labor 

movement  were  the  New  York  Tribune,  Daily  Commercial, 

Weekly   Bee,  Harbinger,   Ohio   Eagle,  Spirit  of  the  Age, 

Workingmen's   Advocate,    factory    Girl's    Friend,    Toting 


ORIGIN    OF    CO-OPERATIVE    EFFORT.  99 

American,  Spirit  of  Liberty,  People's  Press,  Cabotsvillc 
Chronicle,  Mechanics'  Mirror,  Chronotypc,  People's  "Jour- 
nal (monthly) ,  and  Equal  Rights  Advocate. 

The  effort  at  co-operation  most  closely  connected  with  the 
labor  movement  originated  in  Boston  in  1844-5,  and  was  or- 
ganized and  conducted  by  members  of  trades-unions  and 
labor  reform  societies,  although  its  first  practical  experiment 
was  said  to  be  an  outcome  of  a  temperance  organization  known 
as  the  Sons  of  Temperance.  It  may  be  noted  that  this  co- 
operative enterprise  of  American  workingmen  originated  at 
about  the  same  time  with  that  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  in  En- 
gland. In  the  same  year  these  men,  without  knowledge  of 
each  other's  effort,  were  attempting  to  solve  the  labor  question 
by  the  formation  of  a  combination,  first  to  eliminate  profit  in 
traffic,  and  finally  in  production.  The  New  England  Wo rk- 
ingmen's  Association,  in  September  of  1845,  had  resolved 
that  concert  of  action  in  the  purchase  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
was  the  only  means  of  securing  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  people.  The  preamble  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  New  England  Protective  Union  shows  that  the 
leaders  realized  the  necessity  -of  something  more  than  the 
mere  saving  of  the  profit  upon  goods,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  extract. 

We  most  firmly  believe  it  is  the  imperative  duty  we  owe  one  another  and 
ourselves  to  give  all  the  information  in  our  power  to  the  procurance  of  sure, 
steady  and  profitable  employment,  that  we  may  have  deeds  of  genuine  sym- 
pathy which  not  only  manifest  themselves  in  relieving  the  destitute  and  admin- 
istering to  the  sick,  but  those  which  strike  at  the  root  of  poverty,  such  as  will 
secure  good  pay  and  fewer  hours  of  labor,  and  thereby  in  no  ordinary  degree 
remove  the  cause  of  poverty  and  sickness. 

They  commenced  business  with  a  box  of  soap  and  a  half 
chest  of  tea.  The  organization  grew  slowly,  the  leaders  still 
maintaining  the  grand  idea  of  the  elevation  of  the  working 
classes.  In  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  organization 
of  industry  we  find  these  words :  "The  dollar  was  to  us  of 
minor  importance  ;  humanitary  and  not  mercenary  were  our 
motives."  They  believed  that  by  the  organization  of  co-op- 
erative industry,  labor-saving  machinery  would  labor  for  in- 


IOO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

stead  of  against  the  interest  of  the  poor.  They  say  :  "Man's 
muscles  are  now  made  to  compete  with  iron  machines  that  need 
no  rest,  that  have  no  affections,  eat  no  bread.  Why  is  he  who 
produces  everything  not  only  destitute  of  the  luxuries  but  of 
the  common  comforts  of  life,  to  say  nothing  of  a  shelter  he 
can  call  his  own?"  They  saw  the  need  of  improving  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  women,  for  they  say  :  "Lamentable  as 
is  the  condition  of  the  laboring  men,  that  of  women  is  worse 
and  increasingly  so."  Speaking  of  the  newly-invented  sew- 
ing machine,  they  say:  "Let  us  take  this  and  kindred  ma- 
chines and  christen  them  for  the  good  of  the  race  by  shortening 
the  hours  of  labor,  while  at  the  same  time  we  increase  the 
product  of  labor." 

These  men  had  felt  the  tyranny  of  the  employing  class. 
They  had  witnessed  the  discharge  of  their  fellows  because  of 
prominence  in  labor  matters  or  because  they  dared  to  vote 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  and  they 
desired  to  place  men  in  such  independent  positions  "that 
tyranny  cannot  say,  'Vote  my  ticket  or  leave  my  employ,' 
which,  with  wrife  and  starving  little  ones  before  him,  obliges 
him  to  succumb."  Their  bright  dreams  of  the  future  pictured 
the  displacement  of  the  disease-breeding  work-shops  and  the 
erection  of  grand  palaces  devoted  to  Labor  and  Love.  They 
were  also  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  free  soil  sentiment  of 
their  time.  They  say:  "We  must  proceed  from  combined 
stores  to  combined  shops,  from  combined  shops  to  combined 
houses,  to  joint  ownership  in  God's  earth,  the  foundation  that 
our  edifice  must  stand  upon."  They  condemned  the  fugitive 
slave  law  as  an  infamous  act,  fitted  to  be  trampled  under  the 
foot  of  every  lover  of  justice  and  liberty,  and  pledged  their 
lives  and  fortunes  to  its  overthrow  and  final  repeal.  At  this 
time  (1850)  they  had  formed  106  divisions,  83  of  which  re- 
turned a  membership  of  over  5,000,  with  a  capital  of  $71,- 
890.36.  In  October,  1852,  the  purchases  through  the  general 
agency  amounted  to  over  $1,000,000,  and  167  of  the  sub- 
divisions reported  a  capital  of  $241,712.66.  A  branch  of  the 
organization  was  formed  in  New  York,  under  the  name  of  the 
American  Protective  Union.  These  organizations  practically 


NEW    ENGLAND    WORKINGMEN's    ASSOCIATION.  IOI 

ended  in  1853  as  efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  working  classes,  but  trade  was  continued  through  their 
stores  up  to  about  the  time  of  the  war.  Co-operative  efforts 
were  attempted  in  many  parts  of  the  country  by  members  of 
trades-unions  and  other  labor  associations.  As  a  general  rule 
they  failed  as  much  from  an  ability  to  co-operate  among  the 
co-operators  as  from  limited  patronage. 

The  New  England  Workingmen's  Association  was  organ- 
ized in  March,  1845,  and  held  its  first  annual  convention  in 
Boston,  May  28th  of  that  year.  Among  those  who  partici- 
pated we  find  the  names  of  Charles  A.  Dana  and  George 
Ripley,  of  Brook  Farm ;  A.  Brisbane,  of  New  York  ;  Sarah 
G.  Bagley,  of  Lowell ;  and  Albert  J.  Wright,  of  Boston.  A 
Lowell  delegate  reported  500  members  of  the  Female  Labor 
Reform  Association.  Robert  Owen  of  Scotland,  was  also 
present  and  addressed  the  meeting ;  Mr.  Dana  and  Mr.  Bris- 
bane addressing  the  convention  in  the  evening.  The  follow- 
ing delegates  were  elected  to  attend  the  convention  of  the  New 
York  National  Reform  Association,  having  special  reference 
to  a  call  for  a  convention  for  forming  a  reformatory  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  :  From  Boston,  Albert  J.  Wright, 
Wendell  Phillips,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Marcus  Morton  ; 
Charlestown,  Frederick  Robertson  ;  Brook  Farm,  L.W.  Ryck- 
man,  Charles  A.  Dana;  Lowell,  Abijah  Watson,  A.  Smith, 
Sarah  G.  Bagley,  H.  J.  Stone,  S.  Hathaway;  Lynn,  N.  W. 
Brown,  Henry  Clapp,  William  Phillips;  Woburn,  William 
Totman,  Henry  Wendell ;  Fall  River,  Thomas  D.  Chalmer, 
John  Hull;  West  Roxbury,  Theodore  Parker;  Stonington, 
A.  T.  Cowles,  Thomas  M.  Brown;  Fitchburg,  P.  C.  Petti- 
bone,  John  Seism. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  recommending  associations  in 
various  election  districts  to  question  all  candidates  for  office 
in  respect  to  their  willingness  to  support  and  advocate 
measures  of  labor  reform,  general  or  specific,  in  which  said 
association  may  from  time  to  time  be  interested.  Resolutions 
of  regret  at  the  discontinuance  of  the  JVezv  England  Mechanic 
shows  that  another  labor  paper  had  failed.  On  the  Fourth  of 
July  of  the  same  year  a  convention  of  the  workingmen  and 


IO2  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

women  of  New  England  was  held  at  Woburn,  at  which  about 
two  thousand  persons  were  present.  Charles  A.  Dana,  in  his 
speech  on  that  occasion,  opposed  the  prevailing  system  of 
hard  labor,  which,  as  he  said,  generated  hostility,  and  recom- 
mended unity  of  interest  in  an  organized  form  as  the  panacea 
to  cure  the  affection  of  oppressed  labor  and  capital.  Mr. 
Albert  J.  Wright  said:  "If we  can  judge  future  effects  by 
present  causes,  the  signs  of  the  times  are  indicative  of  the 
long-looked-for  millennium,  and  to  those  who  charge  us  with 
being  disorganizers  we  put  the  lie.  Our  object  is  to  build 
up,  —  to  promote  human  happiness,  without  regard  to  party, 
sect,  creed  or  color." 

The  constitution  of  the  New  England  Workingmen's  Asso- 
ciation, as  published  at  that  time,  contained  the  following 
preamble :  — 

WHEREAS,  we,  the  mechanics  and  workingmen  of  New  England,  are  con- 
vinced by  the  sad  experience  of  years  that  under  the  present  arrangements 
of  society  labor  is  and  must  be  the  slave  of  wealth ;  and,  whereas,  the  pro- 
ducers of  all  wealth  are  deprived,  not  merely  of  its  enjoyment,  but  also  of  the 
social  and  civil  rights  which  belong  to  humanity  and  the  race;  and,  whereas, 
we  are  convinced  that  reform  of  th'ese  abuses  must  depend  upon  ourselves, 
and  ourselves  only;  and,  whereas,  we  believe  that  in  intelligent  union  alone 
is  strength,  we  hereby  declare  our  object  to  be  union  for  power,  power  to  bless 
humanity,  and  to  further  this  object  resolve  ourselves  into  an  association. 

The  terrible  increase  of  want  and  pauperism  in  New  York 
led  to  the  issuing  of  a  call  for  a  workingmen's  meeting  at 
Croton  Hall,  on  July  i6th,  1845.  This  call  states  that  there 
were  65,000  paupers  in  New  York  City  alone  ;  that  one-sixth 
of  the  entire  population  of  the  state  was  in  a  condition  of 
pauperism  ;  that  the  compensation  for  labor  was  steadily  sink- 
ing, until  thousands  were  reduced  to  starvation ;  that  the 
white  labor  of  the  North  was  in  a  worse  state  than  the  slave  of 
the  South.  The  call  was  issued  for  a  general  meeting  of  the 
trades  and  useful  classes.  It  was  signed  with  the  names  and 
occupations  of  twenty-four  persons,  all  save  one  being  me- 
chanics, that  exception  being  Dr.  Newbury,  a  physician  of 
Brooklyn. 

The    specially  marked   features  of  the  movement   during 


LABORERS     UNION    ASSOCIATION.  103 

1845,  were  the  organization  of  women,  and  the  appointment 
of  women  delegates  to  state  and  national  conventions,  and 
the  organization  of  unskilled  laborers,  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Laborers'  Union  Association."  The  organizations  of  women 
were  very  effective,  and  decidedly  more  radical  in  expressions 
than  the  organizations  of  unskilled  laborers.  Strikes  occur- 
red in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and  fall  of  this  year. 
Welsh  puddlersin  the  \vorks  at  Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  City 
struck  for  higher  wages,  and  evidently  succeeded,  as  they  are 
said  to  have  had  a  perfect  combination.  The  second  conven- 
tion of  the  New  England  Workingmen's  Association  was  held 
in  Fall  River,  September  n,  1845,  Judge  Lapham  of  Fall 
River  being  present  and  addressing  the  convention,  together 
with  other  well-known  reformers  of  that  period.  It  continued 
in  session  two  days,  and  adjourned  to  the  2pth  of  October,  at 
Lowell. 

On  the  1 6th  of  June  a  mass  meeting  of  the  working  people 
of  Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  City  was  held  at  Pittsburgh  in 
favor  of  a  ten-hour  system,  Pittsburgh  papers  reporting  an 
attendance  of  at  least  five  thousand  persons,  a  large  number 
of  whom  were  females.  During  the  convention  a  communication 
was  received  from  five  of  the  cotton  manufacturing  firms,  in 
which  the  manfacturers  say  :  — 

The  undersigned  manufacturers  having  received  your  communication  on 
the  subject  of  adopting  the  ten-hour  system  in  our  city,  beg  leave  to  say  that 
although  they  do  not  admit  the  right  of  persons  interfering  between  them  and 
their  operatives,  and  as  they  recognize  the  names  of  none  of  their  operatives, 
either  on  this  committee  or  in  the  proceedings  of  your  meeting,  yet  they  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  they  believe  it  entirely  impracticable  to  adopt 
that  system  here  whilst  in  places  the  twelve-hour  system  is  continued.  They 
would  inform  you  further  that  at  present  our  mills  run  about  sixty-eight  hours 
per  week,  whilst  the  eastern  factories  of  our  own  country  make  seventy-two 
hours  per  week.  Believing,  therefore,  that  the  enforcement  of  such  a  system 
here  would  drive  all  cotton  machinery  from  our  borders,  we  cannot  favor  it. 

This  public  meeting  in  favor  of  ten  hours  was  followed  by 
a  strike  in  which  it  is  said  4,000  persons  were  engaged. 
After  remaining  out  five  weeks  the  operatives  returned  under 
the  old  conditions.  The  Pittsburgh  Spirit  of  the  Times  in 
reviewing  the  strike,  said,  "The  manufacturers  will  not  risk 


104  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

another  five  weeks'  suspension  for  a  slight  consideration. 
They  have  lost  340  hours  (by  each  person  engaged)  by  the 
strike  —  more  than  half  a  year's  loss  at  two  hours  per  day." 

The  first  Industrial  Congress  of  the  United  States  convened 
in  New  York,  October  12,  1845,  and  was  the  result  of  the 
action  of  the  New  England  Workingmen's  League  and  the 
National  Reform  Association  of  New  York.  The  Congress 
was  organized  by  the  election  of  W.  S.  Wait,  of  Illinois,  as 
president ;  Charles  Douglass,  of  Connecticut,  E.  N.  Kellog, 
of  New  Jersey,  and  John  Ferral,  of  Pennsylvania,  as  vice- 
presidents  ;  and  George  H.  Evans,  Charles  Sears  and  Moses 
Johnson  as  secretaries.  Sarah  G.  Bagley  represented  the 
Female  Labor  Reform  Association  of  Lowell  and  presented 
a  written  address.  The  Congress  adopted  a  constitution. 
They  also  proposed  a  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  secret  Indus- 
trial Brotherhood.  The  preamble,  after  giving  its  source  of 
authority,  states :  — 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  rich  men,  capitalists  and  non-producers  asso- 
ciate to  devise  means  for  securing  to  themselves  the  fruits  of  other  men's 
labor,  and  that  schemes  for  this  purpose  are  invented  and  accomplished  by 
combinations.  Believing  that  no  effectual  resistance  to  these  combinations 
can  ever  take  place  without  united  action  of  the  same  character  on  the  part  of 
those  who  labor  and  produce  all,  it  is  deemed  expedient  to  recommend  a  plan 
of  organization  for  the  adoption  of  farmers,  mechanics  and  workingmen 
throughout  the  United  States. 

The  main  feature  of  the  preamble  seems  to  be  to  secure  the 
right  of  the  soil  to  all,  by  limiting  the  possessions  of  farmers 
and  corporations  or  communities  ;  to  prevent  all  further  traffic 
in  land  by  the  government,  and  to  make  the  public  lands  free 
to  actual  settlers,  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
nation  may  have  a  home.  They  denounced  the  then  existing 
system  of  factory  labor  which  was  withering  life's  energies, 
even  in  childhood,  producing  by  excessive  toil  physical 
deformity,  and  through  lack  of  opportunity  and  means  to 
acquire  cultivation,  deterioration  of  both  mind  and  body. 

Under  Article  3 ,  Section  i ,  it  appears  that  no  employer,  over- 
seer or  superintendent  could  be  admitted  to  the  Brotherhood. 

On  the  29th  of  October  the  New  England  Workingmen's 


VICTIMIZING    LABOR    ADVOCATES.  IC>5 

Association  convened  in  the  City  Hall  at  Lowell,  pursuant  to 
adjournment.  Resolutions  were  introduced  to  the  effect  that 
resort  to  the  polls  was  the  only  practical  and  effectual  method 
that  the  workingmen  could  then  adopt  for  the  protection  of 
their  rights.  The  apathy  of  the  workingmen  and  women 
themselves  called  for  a  resolution  urging  organization  and 
agitation.  Resolutions  of  sympathy  and  encouragement  were 
passed  in  favor  of  the  operatives  on  strike  for  ten  hours  in 
Pittsburgh. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1845  and  the  spring  of  1846,  immense 
mass  meetings  were  held  in  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania.  In  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  Manchester,  N.  H., 
the  town  halls  were  crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity.  The 
people  seemed  to  be  aroused  from  their  apathy,  and  public 
speakers  were  in  great  demand.  The  labor  papers  made  an 
active  canvass  of  the  towns  for  subscribers,  publishing  letters, 
in  which  the  condition  of  labor  was  described. 

The  ten-hour  question  was  still  in  the  ascendant,  and  Cas- 
sius  M.  Clay  had  entered  the  field  as  an  advocate  of  that  meas- 
ure, and  had  taken  an  advanced  position  on  the  land  question. 
In  the  City  of  Philadelphia  a  hundred  dollars  was  raised 
l)y  the  workingmen  in  one  factory,  to  aid  in  the  universal 
establishment  of  the  ten-hour  system  throughout  the  country. 
Petitions  for  ten  hours,  containing  thousands  of  names,  were 
presented  to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  in  1846.  Peti- 
tions of  previous  years  had  been  ignored,  and  members  of 
the  Legislature  were  charged  with  attempting  to  intimidate 
and  brow-beat  the  representatives  of  labor  who  appeared 
before  the  committees  in  advocacy  of  the  measure.  The 
manufacturers,  in  many  places,  discharged  and  victimized 
persons  in  their  employ  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
movement.  Efforts  were  made  to  break  down  the  character 
of  leading  labor  advocates.  Especially  was  this  true  in  the 
case  of  John  C.  Cluer,  an  eloquent  Scotchman,  who  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  past  has  been  known  to  the  citizens  of 
Boston,  as  he  was  then  well  known  throughout  all  the  cotton 
factory  districts  of  the  United  States. 

The  persistent  agitation  of  the  Yankee  factory  girls  for 


IO6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

better  conditions  in  the  manufacturing  centres  led  at  first  to  a 
system  of  obtaining  help  peculiar  to  that  time.  In  Cabotville 
now  known  as  Chicopee,  a  long,  low,  black  wagon  was  em- 
ployed in  making. regular  trips  to  the  northern  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  around  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  The 
man  having  this  team  in  charge  was  paid  a  dollar  a  head  for 
all  the  girls  he  could  secure,  a  larger  amount  being  given, 
according  as  the  distance  travelled  was  greater.  It  is 
charged  that  he  misrepresented  facts  to  the  girls  -thus  en- 
gaged, telling  them  that  the  work  was  very  neat,  wages  high, 
and  that  they  could  dress  in  silks,  and  spend  half  the  time  in 
reading. 

The  workingmen's  associations  of  that  time  established 
libraries  and  reading  rooms.  In  the  Laborers'  Union  men 
were  obliged  to  subscribe  two  dollars'a  year,  and  women  one 
dollar  for  the  library.  They  also  established  a  fund  for  the 
relief  of  destitute  members.  A  memorial  was  forwarded  to 
Congress  protesting  against  the  system  of  land  traffic,  as 
wrong  in  principle.  The  memorialists  say,  "  This  system  is 
imported  to  this  country  from  Europe,  and  is  fast  debasing  us 
to  the  condition  of  dependent  tenants,  of  which  condition  a 
rapid  increase  of  inequality,  misery,  pauperism,  vice  and 
crime  are  the  necessary  consequences,  and  therefore  now,  in 
the  infancy  of  the  republic,  we  should  take  effectual  measures 
to  eradicate  the  evil,  and  to  establish  a  principle  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  our  republican  theory  as  laid  down  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence."  They  proposed  as  a  remedy 
that  the  general  government  should  no  longer  traffic  or  permit 
traffic  in  the  public  lands,  but  that  they  should  be  laid  out  in 
farms  and  lots  for  the  free  use  of  such  citizens,  not  possessed 
of  other  land,  as  would  occupy  them,  allowing  the  settler  to 
dispose  of  his  possession  to  any  one  not  possessed  of  other 
land  ;  and  that  the  jurisdiction  of  public  lands  be  transferred 
to  States  only  on  condition  that  such  a  disposition  should  be 
made  of  them. 

On  January  16,  1846,  the  New  England  Workingmen's 
Convention  met  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  continuing  in  session  two 
days.  The  following  resolutions  adopted  by  that  convention 


WORKINGMEN    ON    SOUTHERN    SLAVERY.  lO/ 

will  show  the  position  taken  by  organized  labor  on  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery :  — 

WHEREAS,  there  are  at  the  present  time  three  millions  of  our  brethren  and 
sisters  groaning  in  chains  on  the  Southern  plantation ;  and,  whereas,  we  wish 
not  only  to  be  consistent,  but  to  secure  to  all  others  those  rights  and  privi- 
leges for  which  we  are  contending  ourselves  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  while  we  honor  and  respect  our  forefathers  for  the  noble 
manner  in  which  they  resisted  British  oppression,  we,  their  descendants,  will 
never  be  guilty  of  the  glaring  inconsistency  of  taking  up  arms  to  shoot  and  to 
stab  those  who  use  the  same  means  to  accomplish  the  same  objects. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  are  willing  to  pledge  ourselves  to  use  all  the  means 
in  our  power,  consistent  with  our  principles,  to  put  down  wars,  insurrections 
and  mobs,  and  to  protect  all  men  from  the  evils  of  the  same,  we  will  not  take 
up  arms  to  sustain  the  Southern  slave  holder  in  robbing  one-fifth  of  our 
countrymen  of  their  labor. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  our  brethren  to  speak  out  in  thunder  tones, 
both  as  associations  and  as  individuals,  and  to  let  it  no  longer  be  said  that 
Northern  laborers,  while  they  are  contending  for  their  rights,  are  a  standing 
army  to  keep  three  millions  of  their  brethren  and  sisters  in  bondage  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet. 

The  custom  of  lighting  up  the  factories  in  the  morning  and 
working  an  hour  or  more  before. daylight  was  thus  treated  by 
a  resolution  adopted  at  Peterboro,  N.  H. :  — 

Resolved,  That  although  the  evening  and  the  morning  is  spoken  of  in  the 
Scripture,  yet  in  that  book  no  mention  is  made  of  an  evening  in  the  morning. 
We  therefore  conclude  that  the  practice  of  lighting  up  our  factories  in  the 
morning,  and  thereby  making  two  evenings  in  every  twenty-four  hours,  is 
not  only  oppressive  but  unscriptural. 


The  joint  standing  committee  on  manufactures  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  of  1846,  to  which  were  referred 
the  petitions  for  ten  hours,  unanimously  recommended  that 
the  petitioners  have  leave  to  withdraw.  The  objections  of 
the  committee  to  a  ten-hour  law  were  that  it  was  unnecessary 
to  legislate ;  that  the  evils  complained  of  did  not  exist  to  an 
extent  sufficient  to  require  legislative  interference.  The  com- 
mittee thought  if  a  man  had  the  strength  and  constitution  to 
labor  fourteen  hours  per  day,  that  the  Legislature  should  not 
interfere.  They  expressed  themselves  as  being  jealous  of  the 
right  of  freedom  of  contract.  They  agreed  that  the  Legisla- 
ture had  a  right  to  interfere  in  the  direction  of  the  reduction 


IO8  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  hours  of  labor  for  all  persons  employed  by  corporations, 
but  thought  that  the  less  interference  with  business  relations 
the  better.  During  the  fall  of  this  year  the  labor  associations 
issued  circulars  to  the  nominees  for  Congress  and  the  State 
Legislatures,  asking  them  to  give  their  views  on  the  land  ques- 
tion, homestead  exemption,  the  ten-hour  system  on  all  public 
works  and  in  all  establishments  chartered  by  law,  and  the  ad- 
justing of  salaries  to  an  equal  average  compensation  for  useful 
and  productive  labor. 

Agreeable  to  previous  arrangements,  delegates  from  several 
carpet  factories  throughout  the  United  States  met  at  Tam- 
many Hall  in  the  fall  of  1846.  Thirty-four  delegates,  repre- 
senting thirty-one  factories,  and  1099  operatives,  were  present. 
The  principal  action  of  the  convention  was  a  protest  against 
a  reduction  of  wages.  The  statement  was  made  that  the 
manufacturers  could  make  a  profit  of  thirty  to  forty  per 
cent,  under  the  new  tariff  which  was  goon  to  go  into  effect, 
the  reduction  being  on  the  plea  that  the  new  tariff  operated 
against  the  manufacturers,  while  it  was  shown  that  when  the 
tariff  was  increased  in  1842  the  manufacturers  declined  to 
raise  the  wages,  saying  it  was  home  and  not  foreign  compe- 
tition they  had  to  contend  with,  although  they  had  previously 
cried  out  that  it  was  foreign  competition.  A  conference  with 
the  employers  was  called  for  Thursday  of  that  week.  Only 
two  of  the  employers  appeared. 

About  this  time  Horace  Greeley  gave  his  famous  defini- 
tion of  slavery,  in  a  private  letter  —  a  definition  which  ap- 
plied to  the  white  labor  of  the  North  with  nearly  as  much 
force  as  to  the  black  labor  of  the  South.  Corporations  in 
Lowell  and  other  cities  were  charged  with  stealing  time  by 
altering  the  clocks,  and  considerable  evidence  was  submitted 
showing  that  it  was  true. 

In  January,  1847,  resolutions  were  introduced  into  the  As- 
sembly, of  New  York,  by  Representative  Walsh,  declaring 
that  the  hours  of  labor  which  may  be  expected  from  appren- 
tices and  other  minors  ought  to  be  limited  and  declared  by 
law ;  that  the  number  of  hours  of  labor  per  day,  which  shall 
legally  satisfy  and  fulfil  a  contract  to  work  for  any  specified 


THE    SECOND    INDUSTRIAL    CONGRESS.  109 

term,  in  the  absence  of  any  further  agreement  between  the 
parties,  ought  also  to  be  determined  and  declared  by  law  ;  and 
that  a  select   committee  be  appointed  to  consider  generally 
the  subject  of  the  rights  of  the  State,  with  regard  to  the  hours 
of  labor,  to  take  testimony  if  they  may  deem  it  expedient,  and 
to  report  thereon  by  bill  or  otherwise.     This  appears  to  be  the* 
first  movement  in  the  direction,  of  state  investigation  of  the  • 
relations  of  labor  and  capital. 

The  machinists  of  Boston  held  a  meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall, 
in  May,  1847,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  hold  a  meeting  on 
the  Common,  on  May  24th,  and  that  if  the  employers  did  not 
agree  to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor,  they  would  start  a  co- 
operative establishment.  The  New  York  machinists  weie 
working  ten  hours  at  this  time.  The  Boston  machinists  had 
no  union,  and  one  of  the  speakers  said  that  if  a  union  had 
been  started  three  years  before,  the  ten-hour  system  would 
then  be  in  operation  in  Massachusetts. 

The  Second  Industrial  Congress  convened  at  New  York, 
June  10,  1847 .  Among  the  States  represented  were  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Illinois 
and  Kentucky.  At  this  Congress  it  was  resolved  that  a  com- 
mittee of  seven  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  extent,  objects 
and  means  of  trades-unions  in  the  United  States,  and  to  report 
to  the  next  Congress  or  to  the  executive  committee.  Several 
members  spoke  of  the  utility  of  the  trades-unions  that  existed 
in  the  United  States,-and  one  inquired  of  Mr.  Evans,  of  Boston, 
whether  he  belonged  to  the  general  trades-union,  and  could 
give  any  information  in  regard  to  it.  Mr.  Evans  replied  that 
his  position  as  an  employer  at  the  time  prevented  his  being  a. 
member,  but  that  he  had  published  the  Workingmen's  Advo- 
cate, which  was  the  organ  of  the  union ;  that  at  the  largest 
convention  of  the  union  ever  held  in  the  City  Hall,  in  1834, 
resolutions  had  been  passed  in  favor  of  the  freedom  of  the 
public  lands.  The  congress  received  a  communication  from 
the  Fraternal  Democrats  in  London  to  the  Reformers  of  the 
United  States,  which  led  to  considerable  discussion  as  to  the 
object  of  the  Fraternal  Democrats.  The  address  was  signed 
by  George  Julian  Harney,  a  gentleman  for  a  long  time  a  con- 


IIO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

tributor  to  the  Northern  Star,  a  Chartist  paper,  and  other 
papers  in  England,  and  for  twenty  years  afterwards  connected 
with  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  Massachusetts.  At 
this  convention  John  C.  Noble,  from  the  Louisville,  Ky., 
Typographical  Union,  was  admitted  as  a  delegate,  and  a 
communication  was  received  from  a  farmer  of  Carter  County, 
that  state.  The  Mexican  War  was  condemned  in  a  resolu- 
tion which  stated  "  That  this  Congress  do  hereby  recommend 
to  national  and  all  other  labor  reformers  throughout  the  nation 
to  nominate  no  candidate  for  congressional  or  legislative  office 
who  is  not  pledged  to  use  the  influence  of  his  station,  if 
elected,  to  withhold  supplies  from  the  United  States  Army 
now  in  Mexico,  and  to  cause  said  army  to  be  withdrawn  as 
soon  as  possible."  Miss  Fannie  Townsend,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  was  admitted  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  congress. 
The  apathy  and  animosity  of  the  clergymen  on  the  labor 
question  called  forth  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  while  we  fully  appreciate  the  labors  of  all  in  behalf  of  suf- 
fering humanity,  we  are  constrained  to  declare,  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger, 
that  the  great  body  of  the  so-called  Christian  Church  and  Clergy  of  the 
present  day  are  fearfully  recreant  to  the  high  and  responsible  duties  upon 
them.  That  they  sustain  the  blood-stained  banner  of  capital  and  fraud  in 
their  crusade  against  labor,  and  have  themselves  become  the  fiercest  of  the 
vampire  brood  that  gorge  upon  the  veins  of  honest  industry  and  justice ; 
therefore  we  would  warn  them  that  if  they  would  have  those  principles  which 
they  preach,  arid  by  which  they  profess  to  be  governed,  influence  the  people 
of  this  country,  they  must  infuse  into  their  teachings  and  practice  more  of 
truth,  justice,  and  regard  for  the  rights  of  humanity? 

A  long  discussion  ensued,  the  resolution  being  finally  re- 
jected. 

That  there  were  ministers  at  that  time  who  joined  their 
protest  in  favor  of  the  workingmen  is  well  known ;  and  the 
protest  of  Rev.  E.  M.  P.  Wells  in  an  appeal  he  made  in 
behalf  of  the  poor  contained  this  strong  language  :  "  Why 
must  I,  the  official  servant  of  Him  who  went  about  doing 
good,  only  go  about  talking  good?" 

The  congress  voted  to  cause  candidates  to  pledge  them- 
selves to  limit  the  quantity  of  lands  any  individual  might 
acquire,  to  exempt  the  homestead  from  alienation  on  account 


DANGERS  OF  ACCUMULATED  WEALTH.         Ill 

of  any  future  debt,  mortgage  or  other  liability,  to  prevent  all 
further  traffic  in  the  public  lands,  and  to  cause  them  to  be  laid 
out  in  farms  and  lots  for  the  free  and  exclusive  use  of  actual 
settlers,  and  to  limit  the  hours  of  labor  to  ten  on  all  pub- 
lic works  and  establishments  chartered  by  law.  To  carry 
out  the  work  of  the  congress,  members  were  requested  to  pay 
five  cents  per  month,  two  cents  of  which  was  to  be  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  national  executive  committee,  and  the  rest  to  be 
retained  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  representatives, 
etc.  The  Industrial  Congress  took  an  advanced  and  decided 
ground  on  the  cmestion  of  temperance. 

The  three  prominent  features  of  the  movement  at  this  time 
were  :  first,  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor ;  second,  a  radi- 
cal reform  of  the  land  traffic;  third,  co-operative  or  associate 
effort.  Meanwhile  the  labor  reformers  of  that  time  were 
among  the  most  earnest  of  the  anti-slavery  men,  favoring  the 
abolition  of  capital  punishment  and  the  enfranchisement  of 
woman.  They  were  in  full  accord  with  the  struggles  of  the 
men  in  England  and  Ireland,  the  name  of  Fergus  O'Connor 
appearing  frequently  in  the  columns  of  the  labor  press  at  that 
time.  The  labor  and  reformatory  press  of  that  day  spoke  in 
no  uncertain  terms  of  the  dangers  that  threatened  our  institu- 
tions through  the  power  of  accumulated  wealth.  In  a  paper 
published  in  1847,  the  editor  says  : 

The  few  whose  labor  supports  the  mass  will  revolt.  They  will  demand  all 
the  fruits  of  their  labor.  They  will  revolt  against  the  principle  that  inanimate 
matter  and  ideal  creatures  are  better  entitled  to  legal  care  and  legislative  pro- 
tection than  the  contracted  muscles  and  mental  and  physical  energies.  Social 
revolutions  of  this  character  are  inevitable.  They  will  come.  Every  political 
organization  has  witnessed  them,  and  until  human  nature  is  perfect  and  every 
man  becomes  so  thoroughly  civilized  and  christianized  as  to  make  laws  and 
restraints  unnecessary,  until  all  men  .shall  seek  to  do  good  and  to  do  unto 
others  as  we  wish  them  to  do  unto  us,  we  shall  have  these  discords  and 
troubles. 

During  the  year  1847  many  strikes  prevailed,  some  for 
shorter  hours  and  some  for  higher  wages ;  some  of  which 
were  successful.  There  were  strikes  among  cordwainers, 
bootmakers,  tobacconists,  tailors,  journeymen-cabinetmakers, 
painters,  and  pump  and  block  makers.  Wages  were  low,  and 


112  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

provisions  and  rents  were  high.  A  large  foreign  emigration 
had  already  set  in,  competing  with  American  labor,  thus 
antagonizing  race  against  race,  and  finally  resulting  in  the 
establishing  of  a  strong  native  American  sentiment,  and  in 
the  organization  of  a  native  American  party.  This  move- 
ment received  a  severe  protest  from  the  workingmen's  organi- 
zations. But  finally  the  foreigner  was  looked  upon  as  an 
enemy,  because  his  presence  gave  the  manufacturer  power  to 
reduce  wages  more  and  more  to  the  European  level. 

On  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  ten-hour  law 
by  the  British  Parliament,  in  the  early  summer  of  1847,  mass 
meetings  were  held  in  the  principal  cities  congratulating  the 
people  of  England  on  their  triumph.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
mechanics  and  laborers  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  July  2,  1847,  it  called 
forth  a  resolution  hailing  it  as  a  step  in  progress  not  only 
invaluable  in  itself  considered,  but  as  the  harbinger  of  a  great 
industrial  reform  which  was  to  sweep  over  the  Old  World 
and  the  New.  They  voted  to  continue  the  agitation  for  ten 
hours,  the  restoration  of  the  rights  of  all  to  the  soil,  motive 
power  and  machinery,  the  freedom  of  the  public  lands  to 
actual  settlers,  the  exemption  of  the  homestead  from  liability 
for  debts  or  mortgages,  the  limitation  of  the  amount  of  land 
which  might  be  acquired  by  individuals,  and  the  organization 
of  industries.  The  JVew  York  Tribune  of  that  date  in  speak- 
ing of  the  passage  of  the  ten-hour  bill,  says:  "The  friends 
of  humanity  may  rejoice  at  even  this  one  step  toward  relieving 
the  misery  of  the  poverty-stricken  and  oppressed  operatives. 
If  no  other  measures  had  occupied  the  attention  of  Parliament 
during  the  session,  this  one  would  alone  redeem  all  its  sins 
of  omission  and  commission." 

On  the  third  day  of  July,  1847,  a  law  was  passed  in  New 
Hampshire  making  ten  hours  a  legal  day's  work,  and  although 
the  working  people  knew  this  law  to  be  a  cheat  and  a  sham, 
still  they  hailed  it  as  an  event  worthy  of  notice.  Newspapers 
reported  tremendous  excitement  in  Manchester  and  Nashua, 
N.  H.,  and  other  factory  towns.  The  largest  halls  were 
crowded  with  enthusiastic  working  people. 

Some   of    the    abolitionists   were   impatient   at   the    labor 


WENDELL    PHILLIPS    IN    1847.  113 

reformers  because  xthey  used  the  term  "white  slaves  "when 
speaking  of  factory  operatives  and  other  classes  of  low-paid 
labor.  Wendell  Phillips  in  a  speech  before  the  Anti-slavery 
Society  during  anniversary  week,  1847,  said,  while  asking 
the  anti-slavery  people  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  the  products 
of  slave  labor,  in  other  words  calling  for  a  boycott,  "  in  my 
opinion  the  great  question  of  labor,  when  it  shall  come  up, 
will  be  found  paramount  to  all  others,  and  the  operatives  of 
New  England,  peasants  of  Ireland,  and  laborers  of  South 
America,  will  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  sympathy  for  the 
Southern  slave."  A  labor  paper,  in  calling  attention  to  these 
remarks,  says :  "  Mr.  Phillips  is  on  the  high  road  to  the 
principles  of  social  reform.  May  he  and  like  philanthropists 
be  brought  to  see  that  slavery,  war,  poverty,  and  oppression 
are  inseparable  from  the  system  of  civilization,  the  system  of 
antagonism  of  interests ;  that  the  only  effectual  remedy  is 
the  introduction  of  a  higher  system  of  union  of  interest  and 
union  of  industry." 

An  effort  was  made  in  1847  to  break  down  the  ten-hour 
system.  The  ship-builders  of  Bath,  Me.,  bound  themselves 
together  under  heavy  penalties  to  insist  on  the  old  hours. 
When  the  short  days  of  the  winter  season  had  passed,  the 
employers  demanded  the  old  system  of  working  from  sun  to 
sun,  and  for  some  weeks  not  a  stroke  of  work  was  done  in. 
any  of  the  yards.  Public  opinion  continued  on  the  side  of 
the  men,  and  finally  the  employers  were  forced  to  yield. 
The  success  of  the  movement  was  hastened  by  the  action  of 
one  of  the  employers,  a  man  who  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
men  and  their  cause.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the  employers  were 
weakening  he  visited  the  men  at  their  houses,  and  engaged 
the  best  skilled  labor  in  the  town,  setting  them  to  work  on 
the  ten-hour  system.  The  prominent  position  taken  by  Mr. 
H.  T.  Delano  in  the  movement  led  one  of  the  richest  ship- 
builders to  attempt  a  boycott.  Efforts  were  made  to  deprive 
Mr.  Delano  of  his  position  as  superintendent  of  a  marine  rail- 
way. A  man  was  engaged  to  take  his  place,  but  upon  learn- 
ing the  circumstances  he  refused  to  be  made  the  tool  of 
injustice,  and  Mr.  Delano  retained  his  place.  The  panic  of 

(8) 


114  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

1847  tended  to  demoralize  the  trades-union  movement,  al- 
though the  agitation  by  the  labor  and  land  reformers,  etc., 
was  continued. 

In  contrast  to  the  employers  who  were  opposing  the  labor 
organizations,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  1848  the  employees 
of  the  firm  of  Knapp  &  Totten,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  three 
hundred  in  number,  gave  a  complimentary  supper  to  the 
members  of  that  firm.  Mr.  Totten,  in  his  speech  on  that 
occasion  said  that  he  believed  that  he  was  the  first  employer 
to  adopt  the  ten-hour  system,  but  that  this  was  not  enough, 
he  would  like  to  see  the  time  of  labor  shortened  to  eight  hours  ; 
that  the  tendency  of  things  was  that  way,  and  that  society 
would  be  vastly  the  gainer,  and  no  one  the  loser,  if  all  would 
agree  to  it. 

The  uprising  in  Europe  in  1848  renewed  the  agitation  of 
American  socialism  and  labor  reform  generally.  Meetings 
were  called  by  various  craftsmen,  and  resolutions  were  passed 
congratulating  the  French  people.  The  Franklin  Typo- 
graphical Society  of  Boston  met  April  i,  1848,  and  voted  to 
transmit  an  address  to  the  printers  of  Paris  "  in  response  to 
the  glorious  events  of  the  recent  revolution  in  France,  in 
which  they  bore  so  noble,  patriotic,  and  conspicuous  a  part." 
In  their  address  the  printers  say  :  — 

We  rejoice  to  learn  that  the  tendency  of  events  in  France  is  to  social  reform, 
and  that  the  French  people  are  demanding  that  reorganization  of  society 
which  shall  secure  to  the  laboring  man  the  fruits  of  his  skill  and  industry. 
To  us  this  is  the  noblest  feature  of  your  revolution,  for  we  are  convinced  that 
mere  political  reforms  do  not  effect  much  for  the  mass  of  mankind.  The 
people  have  done  enough  for  the  self-styled  higher  classes ;  it  is  time  now  to 
work  for  themselves.  They  should  proceed  as  if  they  knew  and  recognized 
the  truth  contained  in  the  noble  words  of  one  who,  at  different  periods  of  his 
life,  was  a  citizen  of  France  and  of  the  United  States,  namely,  "  That  gold  in 
its  last  analysis  is  the  sweat  of  the  poor  and  the  blood  of  the  brave."  As 
Americans  engaged  in  a  vocation  which  you  have  honored  and  illustrated  by 
heroic  deeds,  as  citizens  of  that  community  which  France  was  first  to  wel- 
come to  the  list  of  nations,  and  to  sustain  whose  nationality  and  freedom  she 
poured  out  her  blood  and  treasure,  as  bearing  in  our  united  capacity  the  name 
of  that  man  who  formed  the  first  treaty  between  France  and  the  United  States, 
and  was  at  once  a  philosopher,  a  statesman,  a  friend  of  the  human  race,  and 
a  printer,  we  venture  to  address  the  printers  of  Paris  as  men. 

At  a  mass  meeting  of  workingmen  in  Faneuil  Hall,  May 


CHARTISTS    AND    RKPEALERS.  1 15 

pth,  who  met  to  congratulate  each  other  on  the  auspicious 
events  in  Europe,  and  to  express  their  views  in  relation  to 
reform,  at  which  Albert  J.  Wright  presided,  the  first  three 
resolutions  passed  were  congratulatory  to  the  working  people 
of  France  and  the  provisional  government,  and  expressed 
their  grateful  sympathy  for  the  Chartists  in  England  and  the 
Repealers  in  Ireland.  The  fourth  and  fifth  resolutions  were 
as  follows : 

While  we  rejoice  in  the  organization  of  free  institutions  in  the  old  world,  we 
are  not  indifferent  to  their  support  at  home,  and  we  regret  the  despotic  atti- 
tude of  the  Slave  Power  at  the  South,  and  the  domineering  ascendancy  of  the 
Monied  Oligarchy  in  the  North  as  equally  hostile  to  the  interests  of  labor,  and 
incompatible  with  the  preservation  of  popular  rights.  Resolved,  that  if  we 
would  procure  the  passage  of  just  and  efficient  laws  to  protect  labor,  and  raise 
it  from  its  present  degrading  dependence  on  wealth,  we  must  purge  the  halls 
of  legislation  of  the  hirelings  who  basely  pander  to  the  interests  of  capital, 
and  to  accomplish  this  result  we  recommend  for  the  laboring  classes  to  try  for 
once  the  experiment  of  trusting  the  management  of  their  political  affairs  to 
men  of  their  own  class,  who  know  their  interests  and  have  a  fellow-feeling  in 
supporting  them. 

They  also  formulated  the  following  measures :  first,  reduc- 
tion of  the  hours  of  labor ;  second,  an  efficient  lien  law ; 
third,  the  freedom  of  the  public  lands;  fourth,  the  inalien- 
ability of  the  homestead;  fifth,  the  abolition  of  the  poll-tax  as 
a  condition  of  the  elective  franchise ;  sixth,  an  industrial  de- 
partment in  the  government ;  seventh,  destruction  of  all  white 
and  black  slavery ;  eighth,  reduction  of  officers  and  salaries, 
especially  those  of  eight  dollars  a  day  and  upwards,  to  the 
standard  of  all  useful  and  necessary  labor.  The  meeting  was 
addressed  by  Horace  Seaver,  John  Turner,  Elizur  Wright 
and  John  C.  Cluer. 

On  May  nth  the  ten-hour  order  was  introduced  into  the 
Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives,  but  was  rejected  in 
the  Senate. 

In  Philadelphia,  in  the  same  month,  the  male  and  female 
loom-weavers  adopted  resolutions,  and  were  anxious  to  see 
some  form  devised  to  completely  revolutionize  the  present 
iniquitous  system  by  which  those  who  toil  most  receive  least, 
and  those  who  toil  least  receive  most,  and  see  labor  organized 
on  the  basis  preached  by  St.  Paul,  so  that  "if  anyone  would 


Il6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

network,  neither  should  he  eat."  An  industrial  convention 
was  held  at  Philadelphia,  nominating  Gerritt  Smith,  a  national 
land  reformer,  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  again  stimulated  labor, 
increasing  the  cost  of  living,  and  thus  necessarily  forcing  the 
demand  for  increased  wages. 

Up  to  this  time  the  agitation  and  public  discussion  of  the 
land  and  labor  questions  had  been  conducted  largely  by  open 
general  organizations.  The  social,  economic,  and  religious 
ostracism  or  boycotting  of  the  leaders  forced  the  organization 
of  secret  societies.  The  trades-unions,  who  were  extremely 
conservative,  were  rather  impatient  of  socialism,  and  the 
several  community  movements.  They  wanted  less  hours 
of  labor  and  higher  wages,  and  saw  the  necessity  of  com- 
bining themselves  in  their  several  trades  to  accomplish  these 
objects. 

In  this  year  (1848)  petitions  were  sent  to  Washington, 
praying  for  a  ten-hour  law,  and  a  law  restraining  persons- 
from  employing  children  in  factories  over  eight  hours  a  day, 
and  obliging  those  employing  them  to  give  them  an  opportu- 
nity to  obtain  a  common-school  education. 

The  trades  began  to  organize  as  never  before.  Organization 
extended  so  far  westward  as  to  warrant  the  calling  of  the  In- 
dustrial Congress,  at  Chicago,  111.,  on  the  second  Wednesday 
of  June,  1850.  The  platform  adopted  at  that  convention  was 
modeled  after  that  of  the  New  England  Association.  In  the 
same  year  a  city  congress  of  labor  was  formed  in  New  York, 
consisting  of  delegates  from  the  several  organizations,  and 
through  its  instrumentality  and  the  public  agitation,  the  or- 
ganization of  other  crafts  received  a  new  impetus.  The  sad- 
dlers, silversmiths,  iron  and  metal  workers,  steam-boiler 
makers,  lady  milliners,  bookbinders,  tanners,  lady  shoemak- 
ers, riggers,  sailmakers,  watch-case  makers,  coach  painters, 
sash  and  blind  makers,  window-shade  painters,  carvers,  gild- 
ers, upholsterers,  bakers,  laborers,  and  dry-goods  clerks  joined 
their  forces  with  the  trades  already  organized.  There  were 
many  strikes  at  about  this  time  among  the  carpenters,  the 
most  notable  one  being  that  of  the  carpenters  of  New  York. 


HORACE  GREELEY  AND  THE  PRINTERS.        1 17 

who  struck  for  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  per  day,  and 
marched  through  the  streets  in  a  procession  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  long  and  four  deep.  A  co-operative  association  of  iron 
moulders  was  formed  in  Cincinnati,  O.,  and  strikes  of  iron 
workers  occurred  in  Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis  and  other  places. 

In  Philadelphia  the  movement  had  become  equally  im- 
portant with  a  strong  tendency  towards  co-operative  effort. 
Workingmen's  conventions  were  held  to  discuss  the  labor 
question,  a  demand  for  homestead  exemption  and  free  public 
lands  being  included  in  nearly  all  of  their  platforms.  The 
Printers'  Union  organized  a  trades  bureau  of  statistics  for 
gathering  statistics  of  labor.  Horace  Greeley  delivered  a 
lecture  at  a  mass  meeting  of  printers  in  New  York,  in  which 
he  strongly  urged  the  necessity  of  more  thorough  organiza" 
tion,  and  the  special  necessity  of  the  trades-unions  regulating 
wages  and  hours  of  labor,  and  in  which  he  complained  of  the 
indifference  and  inattention  of  the  laboring  classes,  especially 
the  printers,  to  the  discussion  of  truths  so  great  and  so  impor- 
tant as  the  rights  of  labor.  He  said:  "The  laboring  class, 
as  a  class,  is  just  where  it  was  when  I  came  here  eighteen 
years  ago,  01,  if  anything,  in  a  worse  condition." 

The  workingmen  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  succeeded  in  carrying 
a  bill  through  the  House  of  Delegates  making  ten  hours  a 
day's  work,  but  they  were  unwise  enough  to  have  an  exemp- 
tion made  in  the  case  of  a  special  contract.  The  sewing 
women  of  Philadelphia  made  a  strong  effort  to  form  a  co- 
operative establishment.  Efforts  were  made  in  the  principal 
cities  to  obtain  short  hours  for  persons  employed  in  mercantile 
establishments,  one  of  the  meetings  in  New  York  being 
presided  over  by  the  mayor,  and  addressed  by  John  Van 
Buren  and  others. 

The  ten-hour  system  had  been  adopted  in  some  places  in 
some  of  the  mechanical  trades,  and  the  movement  in  its  favor 
had  become  so  strong  as  to  gradually  ameliorate  the  condi- 
tion of  the  factory  operatives.  Strikes  occurred  in  many  of 
the  industries,  each  success  giving  renewed  hope,  and  each 
failure  awakening  renewed  efforts  for  organization.  The 
increased  immigration  of  the  cheaper  labor  of  Europe  to 


Il8  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

this  country  rendered  many  of  the  attempts  at  improvement 
abortive.  When  a  strike  occurred,  especially  in  the  factories, 
foreigners  were  imported  to  take  the  places  of  the  operatives 
on  strike.  As  an  illustration  of  this,  we  give  an  account  of  a 
strike  occurring  in  Massachusetts  in  1851. 

The  factory  operatives  of  Amesbury  and  Salisbury  were  at 
the  time  of  this  strike  very  largely  American  citizens,  a  great 
portion  of  them  being  the  owners  of  their  homes.  For  years 
this  corporation  had  been  under  the  management  of  a  Mr. 
Horton  and  had  declared  dividends  as  high  as  thirty  per  cent. 
The  hours  of  labor  were  extremely  long,  being  from  five  in 
the  morning  until  seven  at  night,  with  half  an  hour  for  break- 
fast and  three-quarters  of  an  hour  for  dinner.  A  custom  pre- 
vailed for  the  men  to  go  out  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon, 
under  what  was  called  the  "  luncheon  privilege,"  remaining 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  then  returning  to  their  work. 
With  many  it  was  the  habit  to  purchase  supplies  in  the  open 
market,  or  "Market  Square,"  as  it  was  called.  Upon  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Horton  from  the  position  of  agent,  the 
employees  presented  him  with  a  silver  service,  and  great 
regret  was  felt  by  them  at  losing  so  good  an  agent,  he 
having  helped  many  of  them  to  the  ownership  of  their 
homes. 

After  assuming  control,  the  new  agent  had  a  notice  posted 
in  the  mills  practically  abolishing  the  "luncheon  privilege." 
No  attention  being  paid  to  it,  another  notice  was  posted,  stat- 
ing that  any  person  leaving  his  work  between  the  hours  of 
starting  the  wheel  and  shutting  down  would  be  discharged 
On  the  day  when  the  notice  was  to  go  into  effect,  the  spinners 
of  the  large  mill  left  their  work  in  a  body,  and  marched  down 
the  yard  to  the  square,  the  block  printers,  mechanics,  and 
other  employees  following.  Upon  the  return  of  the  men  they 
were  discharged  by  the  overseers,  and,  taking  their  aprons 
and  tools,  retired  from  the  yard.  A  meeting  was  called  and 
addresses  made ;  great  enthusiasm  prevailed.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  a  temperance  banner,  containing  the  words  "  Come 
with  us  and  we  will  do  you  good,"  was  procured,  and  the 
men  taking  this  banner  at  luncheon  time,  marched  to  the  gate 


FACTORY    STRIKE,    1851. 

of  the  mill-yard,  when  the  weavers  (women)  left  their  looms, 
and  joined  the  men,  thus  practically  closing  the  mill. 

A  band  of  music  was  procured,  and  the  procession  marched 
to  the  house  of  the  former  agent,  and  giving  him  three  cheers, 
passed  down  to  the  residence  of  the  new  agent,  and  saluted 
him  with  hisses.  No  threats  of  violence  were  offered,  and 
the  utmost  good  nature  existed  until  one  of  the  prominent 
members,  A.  G.  Carey,  afterwards  elected  to  the  Governor's 
Council,  was  arrested,  tried  and  acquitted  at  Newburyport. 
Many  men  and  boys  walked  from  •  Amesbury  to  Newbury- 
port a  distance  of  six  miles,  to  witness  the  trial. 

Two  Boston  policemen  were  engaged  to  assist  in  guarding 
the  property,  and  parties  were  sent  out  to  procure  new  help- 
These  agents  of  the  company  secured  some  fifty  or  more  per- 
sons, mostly  recent  immigrants  from  Ireland,  but  no  private 
boarding  place  could  be  found  for  them.  The  proprietor  of 
the  hotel  fitted  up  his  dance-hall  with  mattresses  and  blankets 
for  their  accommodation.  Boys  gathered  in  the  vicinity,  and 
stones  were  thrown  at  the  building,  breaking  some  glass. 

During  the  strike  the  overseers,  some  twenty  in  number, 
met  at  the  house  of  an  overseer,  who  was  a  deacon  of  the 
Orthodox  Church,  on  Saturday  night,  remaining  in  session 
until  past  the  midnight  hour,  thus  infringing  upon  the  Sab- 
bath, to  the  great  scandal  of  the  members  of  the  Church. 
The  result  of  this  meeting  was  the  publication  of  a  manifesto 
supporting  the  corporation,  as  against  the  employees. 

On  Sunday  morning  those  ignorant  of  the  fact  were  sur- 
prised to  find  posted  upon  the  pillars,  of  the  Orthodox  Con- 
gregational Church,  written  notices  to  the  effect  that  at  the 
close  of  divine  service  the  overseers  of  the  Salisbury  Manu- 
facturing Company  would  hold  a  meeting  for  the  transaction  of 
important  business.  At  the  church  meeting  one  of  the  over- 
seers, a  deacon,  acknowledged  his  error  in  transacting  secu- 
lar business  on  the  holy  day.  The  Amesbury  Villager  con- 
tained not  only  articles  in  prose  but  also  verse  dedicated  to 
the  factory  bell.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  men  to  gather 
about  the  gates  in  the  morning,  forming  a  double  line,  and 
every  man  who  entered  the  gate  to  go  to  work  was  soundly 


120  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

hissed.  The  strike  lasted  nearly  six  months,  and  during  the 
strike,  on  the  morning  of  July  5th  (the  4th  of  July  coming  on 
Sunday),  one  of  the  corporation  buildings,  a  mile  from  the 
village,  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  and  was  burned  to  the 
ground.  A  reward  was  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
incendiary,  but  the  origin  of  the  fire  was  never  learned.  It  is 
said  that  the  hose  of  the  fire  engine  was  cut  and  the  fire 
buckets  rendered  useless.  The  strike  resulted  in  a  failure, 
though  many  of  the  men  engaged  in  it  never  returned  to  work 
for  the  corporation,  and  the  foreign  population  of  the  town 
was  considerably  increased  by  the  operatives  who  took  their 
places.  The  only  organization  existing  there  at  that  time  was 
a  branch  of  the  Block-Printers'  Union.  The  block-printers* 
were  English,  and  worked  but  ten  hours  a  day.  They  were 
not  discharged  upon  returning  from  their  luncheon.  We  re- 
member reading  in  the  village  paper  the  story  of  "  The  Old 
White  Horse  on  a  Strike."  The  corporation  was  the  owner  of 
a  powerful  white  horse  which  was  very  vicious.  His  driver, 
a  tall,  raw-boned  Yankee,  finding  that  his  fellows  were  dis- 
charged for  taking  the  luncheon  privilege,  refused  to  return 
to  work,  although  permitted  to  do  so  by  the  superintendent, 
and  he  left  the  horse  in  the  market  square.  No  one  else 
could  induce  him  to  go  to  the  stable,  and  he  remained  there, 
the  pet  of  the  men,  until  his  old  driver  returned  him  to  his  stall, 
where  he  was  obliged  to  care  for  him  day  after  day. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  strike  that  the  editor  of  this 
book,  then  a  boy  at  work  in  the  mill,  received  his  baptism 
into  the  labor  cause. 

The  demand  for  legislation  on  the  hours  of  labor  was  re- 
newed, and  many  of  the  men  who  afterwards  became  promi- 
nent in  the  history  of  the  country  were  elected  upon  that  issue, 
especially  in  Massachusetts.  Among  the  men  elected  in  that 
State  favorable  to  ten-hour  legislation,  as  early  as  1851  and 
1852,  were  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Henry 
Wilson,  William  Claflin,  William  S.  Robinson,  and  James 
M.  Stone.  Some  of  the  strong  Whig  towns  of  the  state  for 
the  first  time  sent  Democratic  representatives,  the  town  of 
Amesbury,  Mass.,  having  the  honor  to  elect  the  gentleman 


ELEVEN    HOURS    ADOPTED.  121 

who  introduced  the  ten-hour  bill  of  that  year,  which  passed 
the  House  and  was  defeated  in  the  Senate. 

In  1853  eleven  hours  was  adopted  in  many  parts  of  the 
country  as  the  work-day,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  head- 
ing off  the  ten-hour  movement.  In  some  places  the  factories 
continued  to  be  run  on  the  old  hours  until  about  1865,  when 
the  eleven-hour  system  was  adopted,  as  the  result  of  strikes ; 
one  manufacturer,  who  owned  a  small  mill,  saying,  that  as 
they  were  making  a  thousand  dollars  a  week,  the  cheapest 
way  was  to  grant  the  request  of  the  strikers  and  set  them  to 
work. 

From  1851  to  1857  the  isolated  trades-unions  and  labor 
organizations  saw  more  and  more  the  necessity  of  national 
and  international  organizations.  In  many  of  the  cities  and 
large  towns  delegates  of  the  several  trades  held  irregular 
meetings  to  discuss  any  special  case  then  pending,  and  con- 
ventions of  different  craftsmen  were  called  for  the  purpose  of 
better  organization.  National  and  international  trades-unions 
were  organized,  granting  charters  to  the  local  bodies  and 
organizing  new  branches  from  Maine  to  California.  Strikes 
continued  to  occur,  both  in  organized  and  unorganized  trades, 
the  •  demands  at  this  time  being  principally  for  increased 
wages.  The  ship  carpenters  and  joiners  and  calkers  were 
still  the  pioneers  in  the  movement  for  the  reduction  of  hours, 
and  having  been  the  first  to  gain  ten  hours,  they  were  the  first 
to  gain  eight  hours.  In  fact,  within  a  period  of  sixteen  years, 
they  changed  their  system  of  working  from  sun  to  sun  to 
eight  hours  per  day.  The  success  in  supplying  the  great 
demand  for  shipping  during  the  early  California  days  showed 
the  practicability  of  the  ten-hour  system  under  a  most  severe 
strain.  Local  organizations  continued  to  increase,  often,  as 
heretofore,  the  result  of  strikes. 

The  organized  men  began  to  discover  the  importance  of 
funds  to  carry  on  their  work,  and  adopted  a  system  of  allow- 
ances from  the  funds  of  the  associations  to  such  members  as 
needed  assistance  during  strikes.  The  men  who  had  been 
compelled  to  live  near  their  work  during  the  long  hour  system 
commenced  to  move  farther  and  farther  back  from  their  places 


122  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  work,  many  of  them  living  three  and  five  miles  from  the 
shipyards.  The  panic  of  1857,  like  the  preceding  panics  of 
1837  and  1847,  tended  to  break  up  the  organizations,  reduc- 
ing their  membership,  but  leaving  a  remnant  to  carry  the 
standard.  In  1859  the  Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  Union 
held  a  convention  in  Philadelphia,  at  which  they  strongly 
advocated  the  eight-hour  movement. 

The  increased  agitation  of  the  question  of  slavery  absorbed 
the  attention  of  the  public,  many  of  the  wisest  of  the  labor 
men  being  of  the  opinion  that  no  great  progress  could  be 
made  until  after  the  destruction  of  the  chattel  slave  system. 

The  introduction  of  means  for  rapid  production  brought 
with  it  extraordinary  dangers  to  life  and  limb.  Under  the 
stimulating  influence  of  profit-gaining,  individual  employers 
and  corporations  took  but  little  heed  of  the  necessity  of  secur- 
ing the  employees  from  the  dangers  incident  to  belts  and 
machinery  and  crowded  mills  and  work-shops.  In  this  brief 
synopsis  of  the  labor  movement  we  could  give  no  space  to  the 
accidents  in  mines,  mills,  and  work-shops  and  on  railroads, 
but  we  cannot  end  this  chapter  without  mentioning  the  Pem- 
berton  Mill  catastrophe,  which  occurred  in  Lawrence,  Mass., 
January  10,  1860. 

While  the  machinery  of  the  mill  was  in  motion,  the  main 
building  fell  without  warning,  and  a  conflagration  broke  out. 
Out  of  the  700  persons  in  the  building  at  the  time,  77  were 
killed  and  134  injured,  of  whom  14  afterwards  died.  Cause 
of  the  disaster,  faulty  construction  of  the  pillars  and  the  lack 
of  adhesive  power  in  the  mortar.  The  following  is  a  descrip- 
tion by  Miss  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  :  — 

Who  shall  say  what  it  was  to  the  750  souls  who  were  buried  in  the  ruins? 
What  to  the  eighty-eight  who  died  that  death  of  exquisite  agony?  What  to 
the  wrecks  of  men  and  women  who  endure  even  to  this  day  a  life  that  is  worse 
than  death?  What  to  the  architect  and  engineer  who,  when  the  fatal  pillars 
were  first  delivered  to  them  for  inspection,  had  found  one  broken  under  their 
eyes,  yet  accepted  the  contract,  and  built  with  them  a  mill,  whose  thin  walls 
and  wide,  unsupported  stretches  never  could  keep  their  place  unaided? 

One  that  we  love  may  go  the  battle  ground,  and  we  are  ready  for  the  worst; 
we  have  said  our  good-bye;  our  hearts  wait  and  pray;  it  is  his  life,  not  his 
death,  which  is  the  surprise;  but  that  he  should  go  out  to  his  safe,  daily  com- 
monplace occupation,  unnoticed  and  uncaressed,  scolded  a  little,  perhaps, 


END    OF   FIRST   EPOCH.  123 

because  HP  leaves  the  door  open  and  tells  us  how  cross  -we  are  this  morning, 
and  they  bring  him  up  the  steps,  by-and-by,  a  mangled  mass  of  death  and 
horror,  —  that  is  hard. 

The  little  band  of  men  who  commenced  the  agitation  of  the 
labor  movement  in  1825  to  1832  had  witnessed  the  growth  of 
that  movement  until  it  had  commanded  the  attention  of  the 
student  and  the  philanthropist  as  well  as  many  of  the  most 
intelligent  wage-workers.  Their  isolated  unions  had  grown 
into  great  national  and  international  organizations  of  crafts- 
men, numbering  their  members  by  tens  of  thousands.  Mem- 
bers of  legislative  bodies  had  been  forced  to  discuss  the  labor 
question.  The  arrogant  assumption  of  power  by  the  con- 
trolling classes  had  been  met  fearlessly  and  often  overcome, 
in  argument  and  otherwise,  by  the  organizations  of  which  they 
were  founders.  They  had  witnessed  the  demand  for  ten 
hours,  at  first  ridiculed,  now  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  a 
benefit.  The  semi-annual  and  quarterly  payments  had  in 
many  places  given  way  to  the  weekly  and  monthly  systems. 
The  militia  laws  had  been  revolutionized,  and  in  some  places 
lien  laws  had  been  enacted.  But  above  all  as  the  very  pio- 
neers of  the  anti-slavery  question,  they  had  seen  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  community  turn  from  apathy  or  approval 
into  earnest  condemnation.  They  had  clasped  hands  across 
the  ocean  with  their  brothers  of  England  and  Ireland,  and 
France  and  Germany,  and  with  all  peoples  who  were  attempt- 
ing to  secure  a  better  condition  in  life.  No  body  of  men 
could  claim  as  much  as  they  for  statesmanship.  They 
had  begun  a  social  revolution  which  was  soon  to  reach  a 
climax  by  the  abolition  of  the  chattel  system  through  blood, 
and  bright  hopes  were  entertained  that  with  its  fall  the  wage- 
system  would  peacefully  be  evolved  out  of  existence,  and  the 
co-operative  system  come  to  bless  mankind. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROGRESS    OF    THE    MOVEMENT    FROM    l86l    to    l886. 

AGITATION  AND  ORGANIZATION  DURING  THE  WAR  —  FIRST  ORGANIZATION 
OF  HORSE-CAR  DRIVERS  —  SUPREME  MECHANICAL  ORDER  OF  THE  SUN 
—  GRAND  EIGHT-HOUR  LEAGUE  —  EARLY  CLOSING  MOVEMENT  —  MASS 
MEETINGS  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  —  CONSPIRACY  LAWS  —  RETURN  OF 
THE  ARMY  TO  INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS  —  LABOR  NEWSPAPERS  —  PUBLIC 
MEETINGS — PROCESSIONS  AND  STRIKES  —  THE  GRAND  REVIVAL  OF 
1866  —  REVIVAL  OF  THE  EIGHT-HOUR  MOVEMENT  —  DISCUSSION  IN 
CONGRESS  —  PASSAGE  OF  THE  LAW  IN  1868 — NON-ENFORCEMENT  OF 
THE  LAW  —  NATIONAL  LABOR  CONGRESS  IN  BALTIMORE  —  TRADES 
REPRESENTED' — KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  ORGANIZE,  1869  —  PATRONS  OF 
HUSBANDRY  —  FIRST  BUREAU  OF  STATISTICS  OF  LABOR  —  GREAT 
STRIKE  OF  THE  COAL  MINERS  —  BOSTON  EIGHT-HOUR  LEAGUE  — 
INTERNATIONAL  WORKINGMEN'S  ASSOCIATION  —  GREAT  EIGHT-HOUR 
STRIKE,  1872  —  NATIONAL  INDUSTRIAL  CONGRESS,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y., 
1874 — RAILROAD  STRIKES  OF  1877;  MILITARY  CALLED  OUT;  LIVES 
LOST;  PROPERTY  DESTROYED;  INTERNATIONAL  LABOR  UNION  OF 
AMERICA  —  GREAT  LIBEL  CASE,  PATERSON,  N.  J. — COLORED  EXODUS 
—  FEDERATION  OF  ORGANIZED  TRADES  AND  LABOR  UNIONS  —  THE 
GREAT  UPRISING  OF  LABOR  IN  1886. 

THE  war  of  the  chattel  labor  masters  upon  the  Republic 
concentrated  the  whole  force  of  the  patriotic  labor 
masses  of  the  North,  East,  and  West.  They  left  their  tools 
of  industry  and  took  .up  the  implements  of  war.  Never  was 
there  such  a  patriotic  uprising  of  the  common  people.  They 
proved  themselves  worthy  of  their  inheritance.  Their  hearts 
made  the  breast-work  of  defence,  not  only  of  the  Union,  but 
of  the  possessors  of  wealth.  At  first  the  industries  trembled, 
but  the  demand  for  arms  and  equipments,  and  the  distribution 
of  money  by  bounties,  soon  compelled  more  rapid  production. 
Strikes  occurred  in  some  places  to  compel  the  advance  of 
wages,  and  the  demand  for  less  hours  of  labor  was  voiced 
by  factory  operatives  and  trades-unions. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  eight-hour  movement  obtained  its 
great  impetus  during  the  war.     An  intelligent  agitation  was 

(124) 


SUPREME    MECHANICAL    ORDER    OF    THE    SUN.  125 

commenced,  and  demands  were  made  for  labor  legislation. 
Many  old  unions  were  re-organized,  national  and  interna- 
tional trades-unions  created,  and  local  unions  and  labor  asso- 
ciations sprung  up  everywhere.  In  1861  the  horse-car  drivers 
of  New  York  formed  a  benevolent  association,  John  Walker, 
who  has  been  a  driver  on  the  Third-avenue  line  for  twenty 
years,  being  the  founder.  This  organization  discountenanced 
strikes,  but  as  reduction  after  reduction  took  place  they  were 
compelled  to  unite  upon  the  question  of  wages.  The  coal 
miners  organized  a  National  Association  in  1861.  The 
Boston  United  Laborers'  Society  was  organized  in  1862,  the 
hack-drivers  in  1863,  and  the  locomotive  engineers  in  the 
latter  year.  The  Garment  Cutters'  Association,  from  whose 
members  sprung  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  was  or- 
ganized at  this  eventful  period.  In  California  the  scattered 
trades-unions  of  the  cities,  and  especially  of  San  Francisco, 
formed  an  amalgamation. 

This  nearly  completed  the  circle  of  organization  of  the 
wage-laborers.  Secret  associations,  with  signs  and  pass- 
words, were  established,  the  largest  in  point  of  numbers  being 
the  Supreme  Mechanical  Order  of  the  Sun,  an  organization 
with  an  extensive  ritual,  having  numerous  degrees.  The 
Grand  Eight-hour  League,  and  other  associations  whose 
names  were  never  given  to  the  public,  were  organized. 
Through  the  power  of  these  orders  workingmen  were  elected 
to  legislative  bodies  in  several  of  the  States.  At  the  councils, 
conventions  and  congresses  of  the  labor  organizations  during 
the -war  resolutions  of  a  patriotic  nature  were  passed.  The 
cost  of  living  had  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  wages  of  the 
workers,  and  discontent  was  general.  The  building  trades 
were  especially  active  in  the  movement. 

In  the  early  part  of  1863  strikes  were  prevalent  in  many  of 
the  industries.  Ship  carpenters  demanded  three  dollars  per 
day,  and  mechanics  and  laborers  in  the  Navy  Yard  were  also 
moving  for  an  increase  of  wages.  It  was  during  this  trying 
time  of  the  Republic  that  the  organized  workingmen  of  En- 
gland manifested  in  unmistakable  terms  their  love  for  our 
institutions,  as  referred  to  by  Professor  James  in  Chapter  III., 


126  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  as  acknowledged  by  President  Lincoln  in  the  early  part 
of  February  of  that  year.  The  clerks  in  different  departments 
pressed  their  claim  for  the  early-closing  movement,  and  mass- 
meetings  of  women  were  held,  at  which  the  terrible  condition 
of  the  working  women  of  the  large  cities  was  exposed  and  a 
strong  public  sentiment  created  in  their  favor.  The  ship- 
wrights of  New  York  City  formed  an  association  for  intellec- 
tual and  social  improvement,  established  a  reading  room  and 
library  and  listened  to  a  course  of  lectures. 

The  draft  of  1863,  which  practically  exempted  the  wealthy 
by  the  payment  of  the  small  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars, 
was  felt  to  be  unjust  to  the  laboring  men,  and  advantage  was 
taken  e>f  this  feeling  to  create  disloyalty  to  the  Union  and  bit- 
terness against  the  negro.  A  meeting  of  mechanics  was  held 
in  Tammany  Hall,  and  Horace  Greeley  was  present.  Mr. 
Greeley  was  called  upon  and  very  unwillingly  addressed 
the  assembly.  After  he  had  retired,  he  was  shamefully 
abused  by  some  of  the  speakers.  This  was  followed  by 
monster  meetings  in  which  all  disloyal  sentiments  uttered  in 
the  name  of  labor  were  strongly  condemned.  Strikes  con- 
tinued to  multiply,  generally  for  an  advance  of  wages. 

Among  the  longshoremen  and  railroad  employees  assaults 
were  made  upon  the  non-unionists  who  took  the  places  of  the 
men  on  strike.  In  New  York  negroes  were  engaged  to  take 
the  places  of  longshoremen.  The  negroes  were  assaulted, 
but  the  police  succeeded  in  restoring  order.  It  was  not  many 
years  after  this  that  the  white  and  colored  men  joined  in  a 
trades-union  procession  for  eight  hours,  some  of  the  colored 
leaders  riding  in  carriages,  and  the  colored  organizations  being 
received  into  the  procession  with  a  salute. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  efforts  were  made  in  some  of  the  State 
Legislatures  for  the  enactment  of  laws,  termed  laws  against 
intimidation,  but  really  so  drawn  as  to  practically  destroy  all 
trades-union  organizations.  Section  i  of  the  bill  presented 
in  the  New  York  Assembly  read  as  follows  :  "Be  it  enacted, 
that  if  any  person  shall,  by  violence  to  the  person  or  property 
of,  or  by  threats  or  intimidation,  or  by  molesting,  or  in  any 
way  obstructing  another,  force  or  endeavor  to  force  any  work- 


THE  GRAND  ARMY  OF  LABOR.  127 

man  or  other  person  hired  in  any  manufacture,  trade  or  busi- 
ness, to  depart  from  his  work  before  the  same  shall  be  finished," 
etc.,  giving  then  the  penalty. 

Mr.  Greeley,  in  commenting  upon  this  in  the  Tribune,  said  : 
"There  is  force  in  the  objection  that  the  acts  it  reprobates  are 
already  misdemeanors  punishable  under  existing  laws.  We 
are  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Folger's  bill,  if  enacted, 
would  do  more  harm  than  good." 

The  organizations  continued  to  increase  in  membership. 
In  1864  the  Cigar-Makers'  International  Union  was  formed. 
The  stone-cutters,  blacksmiths,  carpenters  and  laborers  in  the 
forts  in  New  York  struck  for  twenty-five  per  cent,  advance, 
the  longshoremen  asked  for  $2.50  per  day  of  nine  hours,  the 
mechanics  in  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  asked  for  an  advance 
of  wages,  pianoforte-makers  organized  to  secure  higher 
wages,  the  sewing  women  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
held  mass-meetings,  and  the  mates  of  merchant  ships  held 
a  meeting  for  an  increase  of  pay.  The  journeymen  tailors 
formed  a  national  trades-union  in  Philadelphia  in  September, 
1865. 

It  was  not  until  the  breaking  up  of  the  rebellion  and  the 
return  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  to  the  grand  army 
of  labor,  from  the  processes  of  destruction  to  the  processes  of 
production,  that  the  full  force  of  this  movement  was  developed. 
Labor  newspapers  began  to  multiply,  perhaps  the  most  impor- 
tant move  in  this  direction  being  the  establishment  of  the  Daily 
Evening  Voice  by  the  Boston  Typographical  Union,  which 
had  a  continued  existence  of  two  or  three  years.  Great  pub- 
lic meetings  were  held,  strikes  occurred,  and  labor  processions 
marched  through  the  streets.  State  conventions  of  working- 
men  were  held  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and  New  York ;  at  those 
in  Indiana  and  New  York  nearly  all  the  trades  being  repre- 
sented. 

In  Massachusetts  an  order  was  introduced  into  the  Legisla- 
ture by  a  Union  soldier,  instructing  the  Judiciary  Committee 
to  consider  the  expediency  of  regulating  and  limiting  the 
hours  of  labor  to  constitute  a  day's  work.  As  a  result  an 
unpaid  commission  was  appointed  by  Governor  Andrew  to 


128  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

investigate  the  subject  of  the  hours  of  labor.  The  report  or 
this  committee  was  unsatisfactory  to  the  labor  men,  and  the 
next  year  Governor  Bullock  appointed  three  commissioners : 
the  Honorable  Amasa  Walker,  William  Hyde  and  Edward  H. 
Rogers. 

The  workingmen  of  some  of  the  large  cities  celebrated  the 
Fourth  of  July  by  processions  and  orations.  The  position 
given  the  returned  soldiers  by  the  labor  men  contrasted  with 
that  given  them  by  the  city  of  Boston,  where  the  Aldermen 
rode  in  barouches  and  the  veterans  in  express  wagons.  The 
Daily  Evening  Voice,  then  published  in  Boston,  in  a  pungent 
editorial,  commented  on  this,  and  said  :  "When  labor  is  paid 
as  it  deserves,  and  not  overworked,  it  will  be  impossible  to 
keep  the  honors  of  the  world  from  the  workingmen,  and  such 
an  exhibition  as  that  of  the  Boston  procession  cannot  occur." 

The  year  1866  witnessed  a  grand  revival  of  the  labor 
movement.  Isolated  unions  and  associations  came  more  and 
more  to  see  the  necessity  of  amalgamation.  An  active  propo- 
ganda  was  aroused,  and  new  organizations  were  continually 
multiplying.  From  thirty  to  forty  national  and  international 
trades-unions  and  amalgamated  societies  were  in  existence, 
some  of  them  numbering  tens  of  thousands  of  men.  The 
people  of  to-day  have  little  conception  of  the  extent  of 'the 
labor  movement  of  twenty  years  ago. 

In  the  professional  and  personal  occupations  we  find  among 
those  organized  barbers  and  hairdressers,  hostlers,  clerks  ;  in 
trade  and  transportation,  commercial  travellers,  railroad 
employees,  telegraphers,  packers,  sailors  on  the  lakes;  in 
manufacturing,  mechanical  and  mining  industries,  packers, 
blacksmiths,  blind,  door,  and  sash  makers,  bookbinders, 
boot  and  shoemakers,  brass  founders,  brush-makers,  cabinet- 
makers, carpenters  and  joiners,  carpet  workers,  cigarmak- 
ers,  clock  and  watchmakers,  coopers,  cotton-mill  operatives, 
flax-dressers,  gilders,  glass-work  operatives,  gold  and  silver- 
smiths and  jewellers,  harness  and  saddle  makers,  hat  and  cap 
makers,  hosiery  and  kitting-mill  operatives,  iron  and  steel 
workers,  leather  curriers,  dressers,  finishers  and  tanners, 
machinists,  marble  and  stone-cutters,  masons  (brick  and 


EIGHT    HOURS    IN    AUSTRALIA.  129 

stone),  miners,  nail-makers,  organ-makers,  painters,  paper- 
hangers,  pianoforte-makers,  plasterers,  plumbers,  printers, 
pump  and  block  makers,  quarrymen,  roofers  and  slaters, 
sail-makers,  ship-carpenters,  calkers  and  riggers,  silk-mill 
operatives,  steam-boiler  makers,  tailors,  trunk-makers,  uphol- 
sterers, and  woolen-mill  operatives.  These  associations 
had,  in  many  cases,  organizations  for  different  parts  of  their 
industries. 

In  the  principal  cities,  and  in  some  of  the  larger  towns,  the 
trades  assemblies  or  central  trades  and  labor  councils  were 
continued  in  various  forms,  and  where  none  had  existed,  the 
meetings  of  the  officers  of  the  different  associations  convened, 
and  sometimes  by  correspondence,  sometimes  through  the 
experience  of  members  of  the  several  unions,  they  formed 
their  central  bodies,  many  of  them  at  that  time  being  termed 
trades  assemblies.  Some  of  the  men  who  were  then  promi- 
nent in  the  movement  have  become  employers,  some  are 
prominent  in  public  positions,  and  some  finished  their  work 
before  the  present  great  uprising  of  labor.  To  the  credit  of  the 
cause,  it  can  be  said  of  almost  all,  living  and  dead,  that  they 
maintained  their  principles,  and  if  retiring  from  active  partici- 
pation in  the  work,  still  gave  their  sympathy  to  it.  The  few 
demagogues,  failing  to  make  money  or  fame,  have  since  found 
both  in  the  service  of  wealth. 

Labor  legislation  was  enacted  in  many  of  the  States  of  the 
Union,  especially  in  the  direction  of  education  and  of  limiting 
the  hours  of  labor  for  children.  Massachusetts'  greatest  ora- 
tor, Wendell  Phillips,  had  taken  a  prominent  position  upon 
the  question,  and  General  H.  K.  Oliver,  of  Salem,  one  of  the 
first  educators  of  the  State,  had  spoken  in  no  uncertain  words, 
through  his  report  on  factory  children. 

The  eight-hour  system  had  been  introduced  in  the  colony  of 
Victoria,  Australia  by  operative  stone  masons.  The  stone 
masons  commenced  the  movement  and  were  joined  by  the  brick- 
layers, carpenters,  joiners,  plasterers  and  slaters,  who  formed 
themselves  into  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  securing  it 
and  called  the  other  trades  to  their  assistance.  The  first  meet- 
ing was  called  together  by  the  stone  masons  on  March  27, 

(9) 


I3O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

1856,  the  builders  and  contractors  thinking  the  movement 
ought  to  be  accepted  by  the  whole  of  the  building  trades  be- 
fore it  should  go  into  operation.  The  meeting  was  the  result 
of  this  suggestion  offered  by  the  contractors.  Some  of  the 
contractors  were  present.  It  was  voted  to  enforce  the  rule  on 
the  2ist  of  April.  The  second  meeting  was  held  on  the  2ist 
of  April,  at  which  the  mayor,  John  Thomas  Smith,  presided, 
the  masons  paying  all  the  expenses  of  the  meeting.  The 
mayor  offered  a  cup,  valued  at  £10,  as  a  prize  for  the  best 
essay  showing  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  eight- 
hour  system  to  the  workingmen  in  particular  and  to  society 
in  general,  the  essays  to  be  judged  and  the  prizes  awarded 
by  the  professors  of  the  university.  The  first  prize  was 
awarded  to  Mr.  Best,  a  chemist.  This  movement  awakened 
the  ship-carpenters  of  California  to  make  an  attempt  in  the 
same  direction. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1866,  eight-hour  bills  were 
introduced  in  the  United  States  Congress  by  Mr.  Rogers,  of 
New  Jersey ;  Mr.  Niblack,  of  Indiana ;  Mr.  Brown,  of  Mis- 
souri, and  Mr.  Julian,  of  Indiana ;  and  Mr.  Ingersol,  of 
Illinois,  introduced  a  resolution  to -adopt  the  eight-hour  sys- 
tem for  the  District  of  Columbia.  After  some  discussion  on 
Mr.  Ingersol's  resolution,  a  vote  was  taken,  no  quorum  being 
present.  There  were  but  in  members  present  at  this  time. 
Mr.  Ingersol  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays,  but  they  were  not 
ordered.  On  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  the  yeas  and  nays 
were  ordered,  the  result  being — yeas,  156;  nays,  92;  not 
voting,  76.  As  the  morning  hour  had  arrived,  the  resolution 
went  over  till  the  next  Monday.  March  28,  1867,  Mr.  Banks, 
of  Massachusetts,  introduced  an  eight-hour  bill.  The  ques- 
tion was  taken  upon  suspending  the  rules  so  it  could  be  intro- 
duced— yeas,  78  ;  nays,  23  ;  not  voting,  63.  As  two-thirds 
voted  in  favor  of  the  motion,  the  bill  was  introduced.  Mr. 
Banks  moved  the  previous  question,  which  was  ordered,  and 
the  bill  passed.  Senator  Conness,  of  California,  and  Senator 
Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  advocated  the  bill.  It  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Finance. 

On    November   29,  1867,    Mr.  Niblack    again   introduced 


PRESIDENT    GRANTS    PROCLAMATION. 

an  eight-hour  bill.  It  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Edu- 
cation and  Labor,  and  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Sherman  of  Ohio, 
reported  for  the  Finance  Committee  that  it  asked  to  be  dis- 
charged from  the  further  consideration  of  the  Banks  bill, 
which  was  agreed  to.  An  eight-hour  bill  was  finally  passed 
in  1868,  and  was  signed  by  President  Johnson. 

After  its  passage  by  Congress,  the  officers  having  it  in 
charge  failed  to  report  it,  and  President  Grant  issued  a  proc- 
lamation on  the  i pth  of  May,  1869,  directing  that  no  reduc- 
tion should  be  made  in  the  wages  of  laborers,  workmen,  and 
mechanics  in  the  employ  of  the  United  States,  by  reason  of 
the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor.  Still  the  provisions 
of  this  law  continued  to  be  evaded,  or  utterly  disregarded 
on  the  part  of  many  officers  and  agents,  when  the  Presi- 
dent, on  the  nth  of  May,  1872,  issued  another  procla- 
mation calling  attention  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  and  direct- 
ing all  officers  of  the  executive  department  having  charge  of 
the  employment  or  payment  of  laborers,  workmen  and 
mechanics  to  make  no  reduction  in  the  wages  on  'account  of 
the  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor.  The  government  officials 
still  failed  to  enforce  the  law,  when  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  Congress  to  pass  an  additional  resolution.  On  the 
1 8th  of  May,  1872,  Congress  passed  an  act  securing  to  all 
laborers,  workmen  and  mechanics  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment between  June  25,  1868,  and  May  19,  1869,  pay  or  com- 
pensation on  the  basis  of  a  full,  regular  day's  pay  for  eight 
hours' labor.  Two  months  afterwards  the  Navy  Yard  author- 
ities reduced  the  wages  one-fifth,  and  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Columbia  Typographical  Society  of  Washington,  pre- 
sented a  bill  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who 
referred  the  whole  matter  to  Attorney-General  Evarts,  who 
made  the  following  decision  :  — 

The  act  of  June  25,  1868,  constituting  eight  hours  a  day's  work  for  all  govern- 
ment laborers,  workmen  and  mechanics  does  not  absolutely  require  that  the 
employees  of  the  government  must  receive  as  high  wages  for  their  eight  hours' 
labor  as  similar  industry  in  private  employment  receives  for  a  day's  labor  of 
ten  hours ;  but  it  simply  requires  that  the  same  worth  of  labor  shall  be  com- 
pensated in  the  public  employment  at  the  same  rate  of  wages  that  it  receives 
in  private  employment. 


132  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

This  decision  led  Senator  Dawes  of  Massachusetts  to  offer 
a  resolution  to  enquire  whether  any  legislation  was  necessary 
to  secure  uniformity  of  compensation  under  the  eight-hour 
law,  according  to  its  true  intent. 

On  April  5,  1869,  Mr.  Stevens  of  New  Hampshire  by 
unanimous  consent,  introduced  a  declaratory  resolution  which 
provided  that  the  act  of  June  25,  1868,  should  not  be  con- 
sidered as  authorizing  a  corresponding  reduction  of  wages. 
This  resolution  was  passed.  On  April  2ist  Attorney-Gen- 
eral E.  R.  Hoar  gave  an  opinion  that  the  act  of  1868  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  compensation  to  be  paid,  and  said  the 
rate  of  compensation  was  still  left  by  law  to  be  determined 
under  the  rule  to  be  prescribed  by  the  statute  of  July  16, 
1862,  so  as  to  conform,  as  nearly  as  was  consistent  with  the 
public  interests,  with  those  of  private  establishments  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  He  says  :  — 

I  find  nothing  in  the  statute  which  requires  you  [Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
BorieJ  to  pay  the  same  price  for  eight  hours'  labor  -which  private  establish- 
ments pay  for  ten  or  twelve  hours,  unless  the  kind  of  service  rendered  or  the 
quality  of  the  work  made  the  fewer  hours  in  the  Navy  Yard  equivalent  in 
value  to  the  longer  time  required  in  private  establishments,  or  for  some  other 
reasons,  make  it  consistent  with  the  public  interest. 

The  Secretary  then  issued  the  following  to  the  command- 
ants of  the  Navy  Yards  and  stations  :  — 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  April  22,  1869. 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  act  of  Congress  approved  June  25,  1868,  constituting  eight 
hours  a  day's  work  for  all  workmen,  laborers  and  mechanics  employed  on  be- 
half of  the  United  States,  while  establishing  the  length  of  a  day's  work,  Con- 
gress omitted  to  repeal  the  act  of  July  16,  1862,  requiring  the  wages  of  the 
employees  in  the  Navy  Yards  to  conform,  as  nearly  as  is  consistent  with  the 
public  interest,  to  those  of  private  establishments  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Navy  Yards.  Until  these  laws  are  repealed,  the  Department  abides  by 
them.  The  Department  has  no  authority  to  extend  the  hours  of  labor  by 
making  more  than  eight  hours  a  day's  work,  but  it  has  the  right  to  employ 
mechanics,  workmen  and  laborers  and  pay  them  pro  rata  for  such  extra  labor. 
When,  therefore,  necessity  exists  for  extra  labor,  you  are  at  liberty  to  exercise 
your  discretion  in  the  matter  so  as  to  assist  the  working  classes  and  at  the 
same  time  assist  the  Government. 

Very  respectfully, 

A.  E.  BORIE,  Secretary  Navy. 

This  called  forth  a  letter  from  Hon.  Henry  Wilson  addressed 


NATIONAL    LABOR    CONGRESS,    1 866.  133 

to  Major-General  John  A.  Rollins,  in  which  he  says  that  the 
construction  put  by  the  officers  of  the  Government  upon  the 
eight-hour  law  is  a  palpable  violation  of  the  spirit  and  letter 
of  the  act,  of  the  intention  of  Congress  and  of  the  desires  of 
the  men  who  petitioned  for  its  passage,  and  continued  :  — 

During  the  past  third  of  a  century  the  hours  of  labor  for  manual  labor  have 
been  largely  diminished.  Thirty  years  ago  the  hours  of  labor  in  manufactur- 
ing establishments,  in  machine  and  in  various  mechanical  industries  were 
from  twelve  to  thirteen  hours  a  day.  Laboring  men  and  persons  who  realized 
the  fact  that  capital  has  its  duties  as  well  as  rights  sought  to  reduce  the  hours 
of  labor  to  ten  hours  a  day,  and  they  have  been  generally  successful.  I  think 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  the  hours  of  labor  for  persons  employed  in  me- 
chanical and  manufacturing  industries  have  been  diminished  within  a  third  of 
a  century  two  hours  per  day.  That  this  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  has 
been  conducive  to  the  physical,  mental,  moral,  and  social  improvement  of  the 
\vorkingmen  there  can  be  no  question  whatever. 

The  trades  assemblies  of  New  York  City  and  Baltimore,  in 
the  Spring  of  1866,  issued  a  call' for  a  national  congress.  In 
answer  to  their  appeal  over  a  hundred  delegates  met  at  Bal- 
timore, August  2oth.  The  following  named  organizations 
being  represented :  — 

Ship-carpenters  and  Calkers,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. ;  Grand  Eight-hour  League, 
of  Detroit,  Mich,  (this  was  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Order),  Railroad  Men's 
Protective  Union;  Painters'  Union  and  Moulders'  Union,  of  St.  Louis;  Min- 
ers'Lodge,  Illinois;  Workingmen's  Union,  St.  Louis;  Window-glass  Blow- 
ers' Union,  Birmingham,  Penn.  ;  Mechanics'  Association,  Norfolk,  Va. ; 
House  Painters'  Union,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Masons'  Union,  Newburg,  N.  Y. ; 
Trades'  Union  and  Eight-hour  Association,  New  Haven,  Ct. ;  Coach  Makers' 
International  Unions,  of  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia ;  Marble  Cutters'  Asso- 
ciation, Boston,  Mass. ;  Trades'  Assembly,  New  Albany,  Ind. ;  Iron  Moulders' 
Union,  of  Augusta  and  Savannah,  Ga. ;  Trades'  Assembly  and  Grand  Eight- 
hour  League,  of  Chicago,  111. ;  Trades'  Assembly,  Wilmington,  Del. ;  Work- 
ingmen's Convention,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Bricklayers'  Union,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. ;  House-carpenters' Union  and  Granite  Cutters' Association,  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. ;  Workingmen's  Union,  New  York  City;  Stone-cutters'  Asso- 
ciation, Washington,  D.  C. ;  Bookbinders'  Union,  New  York;  Ship-joiners' 
Union,  New  York ;  Carpenters',  Joiners'  and  Machinists'  Union,  Lowell,  Mass. ; 
Workingmen's  Assembly,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Ship-joiners'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ; 
Bookbinders' Union,  Boston,  Mass.;  Blacksmiths'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ; 
Ship-carpenters'  Union,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Iron  Moulders'  Union,  Boston,  Mass. ; 
Journeymen  Coopers'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Journeymen  Shipwrights' 
Unions,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Journeymen  House  Painters'  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Wood 
Turners'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Trades'  Assembly,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Har- 
ness-makers' Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Pattern-makers' Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ; 
House-carpenters'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Can-makers'  Union,  Baltimore, 


134  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Md. ;  Bricklayers'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Iron  Moulders'  Union,  Baltimore, 
Md.  ;  Operative  Masons'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Journeymen  Curriers' 
Union  and  International  Union  of  Curriers,  of  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Eight-hour 
League,  No.  i,  of  Iowa ;  Trades'  Assembly,  Philadelphia,  Penn. ;  Trades 
Assembly,  Pittsburgh,  Penn. ;  Steam-boilers'  Union,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Iron 
Moulders'  Union,  Scranton,  Penn. ;  Workingmen's  Associations,  Rochester, 
N.  Y. ;  The  Trades-Unions  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  the  Grand  Eight-hour 
League,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Committees  were  appointed  on  the  following  subjects  :  — 

On  Eight-hours  and  Political  Action  ;  on  Permanent  National  Organization  ; 
to  wait  on  President  Johnson;  on  Public  Domain  and  National  Debt;  on 
Trades-Unions  and  Strikes;  on  Co-operative  Associate  and  Convict  Labor; 
on  National  Organs  (newspapers)  ;  to  prepare  an  Address  to  the  Mechanics 
and  Working  People  of  the  United  States. 

The  place  of  meeting  of  the  next  Congress  was  fixed  upon 
as  Chicago,  111.  Resolutions  were  adopted  on  the  following 
subjects :  — 

In  favor  of  the  Eight-hour  System  ;  of  Supporting  Labor  Journals;  Favor- 
ing the  Organization  of  Co-operative  Stores  and  Work-shops ;  Opposing 
Prison  Labor  unless  Paid  for  at  the  same  Rate  as  to  outside  Mechanics ; 
Pledging  Support  to  Sewing  Women ;  Favoring  Speedy  Restoration  of 
Agriculture  in  the  South;  Asking  Capitalists  to  Erect  Improved  Dwellings; 
Asserting  that  the  Public  Domain  should  go  to  Actual  Settlers  ;  Deprecating 
Strikes ;  Urging  the  Promotion  of  Mechanics'  Institutes ;  Advising  Unem- 
ployed Workingmen  to  go  on  Public  Land. 

The  New  York  Tribune  warmly  commended  the  conven- 
tion, concluding  with  these  words :  "Altogether  the  conven- 
tion has  thoroughly  represented  the  intelligence,  education 
and  enterprise  of  the  workingmen  of  the  Union,  and  its  influ- 
ence should  be  general  and  permanent." 

The  following  resolution,  adopted  by  the  convention,  ex- 
presses the  dissatisfaction  which  was  felt  against  existing 
political  parties  and  the  determination  of  the  working  people 
to  secure  eight-hour  legislation  :  — 

WHEREAS,  the  history  and  legislation  of  the  past  has  demonstrated  that  no 
dependence  whatever  can  be  placed  upon  the  pledges  and  professions  of  rep- 
resentatives of  existing  political  parties,  so  far  as  the  interests  of  the  indus- 
trial classes  are  concerned;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  time  has  come  when  the  workingmen  of  the  United 
States  should  cut  themselves  loose  from  all  party  ties  and  organize  themselves 
into  the  National  Labor  Party,  the  object  of  which  shall  be  to  secure  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  making  eight  hours  a  day's  work. 


THE   MECHANICS'   BELL. 


KNIGHTS    OF    ST.    CRISPIN.  135 

This  same  convention  exposed  the  condition  of  the  dwellings 
of  the  poor,  and  cabled  upon  capitalists  to  take  steps  for  the 
building  of  improved  dwellings. 

The  shoemakers'  union,  known  as  the  Knights  of  St.  Cris- 
pin, was  organized  in  1866  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
by  Newell  Daniels.  The  name  was  given  by  F.  W.  Wallace. 
The  first  lodge  of  the  order  was  formed  the  ist  of  March,  1867. 
The  International  Grand  Lodge  held  its  first  meeting  on  the 
the  23d  day  of  April,  1869,  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  adopted 
a  constitution.  One  of  its  articles  forbade  the  members  to 
teach,  or  aid  in  teaching,  any  part  of  the  trade  to  any  one  with- 
out permission  of  three-fourths  of  the  members  of  the  lodge 
present  and  voting  thereon,  provision  being  made  that  a  father 
could  teach  his  son.  Their  methods  of  settling  grievances, 
etc.,  together  with  their  further  history,  will  be  found  in  the 
chapter  on  Shoemakers. 

From  this  time  forward  much  of  the  history  of  the  move- 
ment is  contained  in  the  history  of  the  several  organizations. 
Depression  in  business  resulted  in  the  lessening  of  member- 
ship and  depletion  of  the  treasuries  of  existing  organizations, 
many  cf  the  isolated  trades-unions  passing  out  of  existence  or 
held  together  by  small  bands  of  the  faithful  members  and 
reviving  again  with  the  revival  of  prosperity,  the  tendency 
being  always  to  a  better  form  of  organization.  Much  the 
same  method  of  agitation  was  pursued  and  the  same  meas- 
ures of  reform  were  continually  demanded. 

The  movement  began  again  to  assume  a  political  charac- 
ter, although  the  trades-unions,  as  such,  took  no  part  in  it. 
Numerously  signed  petitions  were  forwarded  to  the  state 
legislatures  and  to  Congress. 

August  19,  1867,  the  National  Labor  Congress  convened 
at  Chicago,  upwards  of  two  hundred  delegates  being  present, 
representing  labor  associations  in  all  the  Northern  States,  and 
Kentucky,  Maryland  and  Missouri.  The  president,  Z.  C. 
Whalley,  in  his  report,  urged  the  eight-hour  movement,  and 
recommended  that  each  State  have  a  vice-president,  for  the 
purpose  of  a  more  hearty  co-operation  in  the  objects  of  the 
organization.  He  suggested  the  establishment  of  a  national 


136  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

organ,  the  editorial  columns  of  which  should  be  devoted  to 
the  rights  of  labor.     He  said  :  — 

The  emancipation  of  the  slaves  has  placed  us  in  a  new  position,  and  the 
question  now  arises,  what  labor  position  shall  they  now  occupy?  They  will 
begin  to  learn  and  to  think  for  themselves,  and  they  will  soon  resort  to  me- 
chanical pursuits,  and  thus  come  in  contact  with  white  labor.  It  is  necessary 
that  they  should  not  undermine  it,  therefore  the  best  thing  that  they  can  do 
is  to  form  trades-unions,  and  thus  work  in  harmony  with  the  whites. 

He  strongly  urged  co-operative  effort  as  well  as  changes  in 
the  methods  of  the  organization,  so  that  a  central  head  should 
be  established,  all  subordinate  unions  to  be  auxiliary  to  it, 
paying  quarterly  dues,  and  thus  establishing  a  fund  to  secure 
the  end  they  sought. 

The  preamble  contains  this  clause  : — 

Heretofore  the  highest  form  labor  associations  have  taken,  is  the  national 
union  of  some  of  the  trades.  Between  these  organizations,  however,  there 
was  no  sympathy  or  systematic  connection,  no  co-operative  effort,  no  work- 
ing for  the  attainment  of  a  common  end,  the  want  of  which  has  been  expe- 
rienced for  years  by  every  craft  and  calling. 

The  name  adopted  by  the  congress  was  the  National  Labor 
Union.  This  convention  appointed  Richard  F.  Trevellick  as 
a  delegate  to  Europe,  but  on  account  of  a  lack  of  funds,  he 
was  unable  to  attend.  It  adjourned  to  meet  at  Pittsburgh, 
Penn.,  on  the  first  Monday  in  May,  1868. 

The  Chicago  Tribune  of  that  date,  in  an  editorial,  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  farmers,  who  were  both  capi- 
talists and  laborers,  were  not  represented  at  the  convention, 
and  that  "this  mighty  mass  of  producers"  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  labor  congress,  or  with  strikes,  or  eight  hours,  or 
movements.  This  was  measurably  true  of  that  day,  but  after 
the  organization  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  a  different 
spirit  pervaded  the  farming  community,  as  was  shown  by  the 
action  of  the  National  Grange  at  their  nineteenth  session, 
assembled  in  Boston  in  November,  1885,  at  which  convention 
the  following  preamble  and  resolution  was  adopted  and  for- 
warded to  the  Secretary-Treasurer  of  District  30,  Knights  of 
Labor,  Massachusetts. 


FIRST    BUREAU    OF    STATISTICS    OF    LABOR.  137 

WHEREAS,  the  morning  papers  inform  us  that  at  Brockton,  a  number  of 
workingmen,  amounting  to  five  thousand,  have  been  turned  out  of  employ- 
ment because  they  belong  to  an  organization  called  the  "  Knights  of  Labor" 
—  this  being  their  offence,  and  nothing  more  —  by  an  organization  called 
the  Manufacturers'  Association,  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  in  the  National  Grange 
assembled,  do  hereby  send  greeting  and  sympathy  to  our  laboring  brethren, 
and  assure  them  that  we  will  ever  maintain  the  right  and  privilege  of  any 
person  or  class  of  our  fellow  citizens  to  organize  themselves  for  protection. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary,  under  seal  of  the  National  Grange,  send  a 
copy  of  the  above  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

JOHN  TRIMBLE, 
Secretary  National  Grange  P.  of  H. 

November  18,  1885. 

The  eight-hour  men,  who  had  been  the  unpaid  repre- 
sentatives of  labor  before  committees  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature,  succeeded  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  resolve 
establishing  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor 
in  1869,  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  established.  General  H.  K. 
Oliver,  of  Salem,  a  man  with  varied  experiences  as  an  edu- 
cator and  as  the  agent  of  a  large  cotton  mill  for  ten  years, 
afterwards  being  specially  deputized  to  enforce  the  laws  in 
reference  to  the  employment  and  schooling  of  children,  was 
appointed  chief,  and  the  editor  of  this  work,  on  August  4th 
of  the  same  year,  was  appointed  deputy.  The  chief  and 
deputy  constituted  the  Bureau.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  the 
Labor  Reform  Party  of  Massachusetts  was  formed,  and 
nominated  candidates  for  the  State  offices,  who  received  about 
fifteen  thousand  votes. 

Massachusetts  was  at  this  time  again  the  centre  of  the 
political  and  public  movement,  while  the  trades-unions  move- 
ment was  centering  in  New  York  and  Chicago,  and  spread- 
ing into  California,  where  the  telegraphers  organized  a 
benevolent  association  which  spread  into  the  larger  cities  of 
the  east,  and  was  immediately  followed  by  a  strike,  which, 
for  a  fime,  paralyzed  business,  the  newspapers  suffering 
severely  ;  but  in  twenty-four  hours  after  the  strike  the  offices 
in  the  cities  were  manned  by  operatives  from  the  country,  and 
the  strike  was  a  failure. 

September  21,  1868,  the  National  Labor  Congress  con- 
vened in  New  York  City.  The  address  of  the  president  was 


138  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

largely  occupied  with  the  question  of  women's  labor.  He 
warned  the  members  not  to  lose  their  identity  in  political 
organizations.  Mrs.  E.  C.  Stanton  was  admitted  as  a  mem- 
ber after  a  long  discussion.  The  convention  seemed  to  be 
divided  on  the  question  of  political  action  and  on  the  question 
of  currency.  W.  H.  Sylvis,  of  the  Iron  Moulders"  Union, 
was  chosen  chairman.  It  was  voted  that  the  next  National 
Congress  should  be  held  at  Pittsburgh,  Penn. 

In  1868  the.  Workingmen's  Benevolent  Association,  a 
miners'  organization  of  St.  Clair  county,  asked  for  a  char- 
ter from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was  granted, 
and  an  extensive  eight-hour  strike  began  on  the  first  of 
July  of  that  year,  during  which  considerable  violence 
occurred.  A  grand  mass-meeting  of  all  the  miners  and 
laborers  in  Schuylkill  county  was  called  in  Mahoning 
city.  It  is  estimated  that  from  twelve  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  persons  were  present.  They  were  addressed  by 
many  of  their  fellow-workmen,  and  all  counseled  modera- 
tion and  good  order.  The  miners  in  Schulykill  county  had 
not  at  that  time  organized  a  union,  and  a  charter  was  granted 
on  the  application  of  John  Siney  and  others,  for  the  Working- 
men's  Benevolent  Association  of  Schuylkill  county,  giving 
them  authority  to  organize  sub-districts  in  that  county,  and 
giving  the  trustees  of  such  sub-districts  power  to  sue  in  the 
corporate  name.  The  movement  for  the  eight-hour  system 
was  abandoned,  and  work  was  resumed  in  September. 

A  very  strong  effort  was  then  made  by  operators  to  break 
up  the  unions,  and  a  long  strike  ensued.  Men  who  had  used 
every  means  in  their  power  to  prevent  violence  and  preserve 
the  public  peace  were  stigmatized  by  the  coal  operators  as 
demagogues.  The  difficulties  resulted  in  great  suffering 
among  the  men,  and  the  failure  of  some  of  the  wealthy  coal 
operators,  which  finally  gave  President  Gowen  control  of 
Schuylkill  county. 

In  November,  1870,  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  Canal  Co., 
located  in  New  York  City,  gave  notice  to  their  employees 
that  on  and  after  the  first  of  December  miners  should  be  paid 
eighty-six  cents  per  diamond  car,  instead  of  one  dollar  and 


BOSTON   EIGHT-HOUR   LEAGUE.  139 

thirty-one  cents.  This  proposed  reduction  of  thirty-three  per 
cent. ,  coming  as  it  did  so  soon  after  the  abandonment  of  the 
eight -hour  movement,  and  the  attempt  to  break  up  the 
unions,  created  great  excitement.  Orders  of  like  character 
were  issued  by  the  Delaware  &  Lackawanna,  and  Western 
Railroad  Companies  and  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company. 
The  men  struck,  and  the  utmost  demoralization  prevailed. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  the  Boston  Eight-hour  League  was 
formed,  the  Grand  Eight-hour  League  having  gone  out  of 
existence  in  that  State  some  time  before.  The  preamble  to 
the  constitution  of  this  organization  was  a  terse  statement  of 
the  argument  for,  and  the  results  of,  the  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  to  eight.  It  argued  that  a  reduction  of  hours 
is  an  increase  of  wages ;  that  this  increase  is  without  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  the  cost  of  production ;  that  the  in- 
crease of  wages  without  increased  cost  is  a  better  distribution 
of  wealth ;  that  a  better  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  process 
of  production  lessens  profits  upon  labor,  and  thus  makes 
co-operative  labor  practicable ;  that  leisure  is  the  greatest 
motive  power  to  create  wants  and  desires ;  that  the  wage  sys- 
tem must  gradually  become  extinct  through  natural  causes. 

This  society  discussed  the  question  as  one  of  political  econ- 
omy solely.  It  treated  the  theory  that  demand  and  supply 
governed  wages  as  the  false  theory  as  long  as  capitalists  were 
the  masters,  and  the  laborers  the  slaves  of  that  law.  They 
claimed  that  wages  were  governed  by  the  cost  at  which  any 
class  of  laborers  were  compelled  to  live  ;  that  with  increased 
wages,  that  is,  increased  purchasing,  power  of  a  day's  labor, 
the  condition  of  the  laborers  must  be  improved,  all  effort  being 
toward  making  them  better  consumers ;  they  claimed  that  it 
was  Sabbaths,  free  schools,  the  elective  franchise,  frequent 
elections,  etc.,  that  made  the  New  Englander  higher  priced 
than  the  Chinaman,  and  that  leisure  must  be  given  as  an 
incentive  in  the  same  direction.  The  society  had  weekly 
meetings  for  the  discussion  of  purely  labor  questions  and  held 
annual  conventions.  The  proceedings  of  these  conventions 
were  given  great  publicity,  and  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
them  were  widely  quoted  and  translated  into  many  languages. 


140  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

They  were  pronounced  in  their  opposition  to  the  discussion 
of  finance  reform  and  other  subjects,  in  the  name  of  labor 
reform,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  resolutions  adopted 
at  one  of  the  annual  conventions  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  Boston  Eight-hour  League  records  its  most  emphatic 
protest  against  the  discussion  or  the  consideration  of  financial  theories,  in  the 
name  of  Labor  Reform. 

That  financial  reform,  so  called,  is  interesting  and  important,  chiefly  to  that 
small  per  cent,  of  our  fellow  citizens  who  belong  to  the  capitalist  classes ;  who 
regard  themselves  as  a  permanent  class  in  society,  and  believe  that  upon  their 
financial  successes  must  depend  all  who  work  with  their  hands.  Who  read 
Labor's  advantages  in  the  light  of  their  own,  but  none  of  their  own  interests 
with  the  eyes  of  Labor :  who  make  no  distinction  between  capitalists  and 
capital,  between  the  curse  of  a  class,  known  only  for  its  wealth  and  the  bless- 
ings of  wealth  itself;  and  are  able  through  their  wealth  to  fix  public  attention 
upon  questions  of  taxation,  railroad  and  banking  management,  currency  and 
interest,  protection  and  free-trade,  franking,  mileage,  salary,  civil  service,  and 
economical  humbugs,  the  settlement  of  which  the  best  way,  still  leaves  the 
laborer  a  laborer,  and  the  capitalist  a  capitalist,  between  whom  there  is  an 
irrepressible  conflict  which  must  continue  until  all  are  laborers  and  all  are 
capitalists. 

Resolved,  That  it  always  was,  and  always  will  be,  too  late  to  secure  to  the 
wage-worker  any  appreciable  amount,  or  any  considerable  advantage  in  the 
management  of  wealth  that  has  once  been  distributed! 

That  his  attention  must  be  turned  to  the  earnings  or  productions  of  the 
future,  and  not  to  those  of  the  past;  to  wealth  in  the  process  of  its  creation  : 

That  as  long  as  the  wage  system  prevails,  the  production  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  must  proceed  together;  and  any  re-distribution  of  wealth, 
through  a  supplementary  financial  system,  can  never  occur. 

That  a  better  labor  system,  or  the  present  one  improved,  must  precede  a 
better  distribution  of  wealth. 

That  labor  produces  everything,  and  must  learn  to  keep  everything,  if  it 
would  have  everything.  That  all  that  labor  ever  had  since  the  world  began 
to  divide  its  work,  and  all  it  can  ever  have  until  it  reaches  the  higher  level  of 
co-operation,  is  through  the  wage  system:  and  through  higher  wages  only 
can  the  masses  ever  secure  a  more  equal  distribution  of  wealth,  by  which  the 
claim  of  the  League  is  reached,  that  it  assembles  in  the  name  of  labor,  to 
consider  questions  of  labor,  and  not  financial  theories  under  the  banner  of 
labor  reform. 

And  the  so-called  "  Labor  Reform  "  conventions  that  assemble  and  discuss 
almost  everything  else  but  labor,  and  confuse  and  disgust  those  who  stop  to 
listen,  by  the  impracticable  nature  of  their  claim;  that  furnish  a  theatre  or 
a  platform  for  a  crowd  of  adventurers  who  are  without  a  purpose,  and  without 
a  constituency  among  those  who  labor  or  those  who  think;  that  minister  to 
the  most  superficial  and  sensational  thought  or  feeling  of  the  movement;  that 
flippantly  denounce  as  narrow  and  unimportant,  or  worse,  the  uprising  of 
labor  everywhere  for  less  hours ;  that  present  no  theory  even  of  the  labor 


INTERNATIONAL    WORKINGMEN'S    ASSOCIATION. 

and  poverty  problem,  and  no  measures  that  could  be  enacted  or  repealed  with 
profit  to  labor,  may  be  regarded  as  not  important  to  the  laborers'  movement; 
and  our  interest  in  them  begins  and  ends  with  the  wish,  that  as  often  as  they 
call  the  public  to  discuss  financial  theories,  they  will  call  in  the  name  of  capi- 
tal and  not  in  the  precious  name  of  labor. 

Resolved,  That  with  unfaltering  confidence  we  shall  be  triumphantly  sus- 
tained in  our  great  claim  that  less  hours  for  labor  is  the  first  step  in  labor 
reform. 

That  less  hours  mean  higher  wages,  less  poverty,  a  more  equal  distribution 
of  wealth,  more  wealth-producing  machinery,  and  wealth  far  more  rapidly 
produced. 

That  the  vices  and  crimes  and  follies  of  mankind  are  largely  the  result  of 
their  poverty  and  of  their  ignorance,  which  their  poverty  increases. 

That  a  monopoly  of  education,  a  monopoly  of  political  rights,  and  a  monop- 
oly of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  are  the  great  dangers  that  now  most 
threaten  our  Republic. 

We  therefore  call  once  again,  as  we  have  and  shall  continue  to  call,  for  the 
concentration  of  the  whole  power  and  forces  of  the  labor  movement  upon  the 
single  and  simple  issue  of  the  legislation  necessary  to  secure  the  eight-hour 
system  first,  for  all  labor  employed  at  the  public  expense,  whether  by  contract 
or  by  the  day. 

Resolved,  That  the  congratulations  of  labor  men  everywhere  may  be  ex- 
changed upon  the  fact  that  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  has  at  last 
decided  to  legislate  on  the  hours  of  labor. 

In  the  winter  of  1869  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  organized 
in  Philadelphia  as  described  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  that 
order. 

In  1870  and  1871  the  International  Workingmen's  Associa- 
tion, which  was  formed  in  1863,  and  which  had  held  inter- 
national congresses  at  Geneva,  Bruxelles,  Basle  and  London, 
commenced  to  form  branches  in  the  United  States.  This 
was  an  attempt  to  combine  the  disconnected  movements 
of  the  several  countries  for  the  emancipation  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  It  declared  that  all  previous  efforts  had  failed 
from  the  want  of  solidarity  between  the  manifold  divisions 
of  labor  in  each  country,  and  from  the  absence  of  a  fra- 
ternal bond  of  union  between  the  working  classes  of  each 
country  ;  that  the  emancipation  of  labor  was  a  social  prob- 
lem embracing  all  countries  and  depending  for  its  solution 
on  the  concurrence,  practical  and  theoretical,  of  the  most 
advanced  countries.  It  declared  that  all  societies  and 
individuals  adhering  to  it  would  acknowledge  truth,  jus- 
tice and  morality  as  the  basis  of  our  conduct  toward  each 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

other  and  towards  all  men,  without  regard  to  creed,  color  or 
nationality  ;  that  it  acknowledged  no  rights  without  duties, 
no  duties  without  rights.  It  provided  for  annual  congresses 
and  for  a  general  council.  In  addition  to  the  general  council 
there  were  federal  councils  or  committees,  local  societies, 
branches  and  groups.  No  branch  or  group  was  allowed  to 
designate  themselves  by  sectarian  names,  —  such  as  Posi- 
tivists,  Mutualists,  Collectivists,  Communists,  etc.  They 
established  a  system  of  general  statistics  of  labor.  This 
organization  had  but  a  short  existence  in  this  country. 
Some  of  its  members  were  among  the  ablest  and  most  earn- 
est of  the  labor  advocates. 

The  year  1872  was  one  in  which  the  agitation  of  labor 
question  was  most  active.  The  "Report  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Labor  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  1873,"  in  speaking  of  that 
period,  says  :  — 

Hardly  a  week  has  passed  in  which  some  trade  has  not  either  struck  or  been 
struck  against,  and  yet  definite  knowledge  of  details  cannot  be  obtained.  No 
strike  on  a  large  scale  occurred  in  Massachusetts,  though  in  the  spring  and 
summer  the  building  trades  reorganized  their  unions,  held  meetings,  and 
seemed  on  the  verge  of  striking  for  the  eight-hour  system.  The  agitation 
of  this  subject  gave  new  life  to  the  unions,  and  woke  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
men ;  the  common  expression  of  the  meetings  being  to  persevere  until  they 
gained  the  boon  of  added  leisure  and  better  opportunity.  The  speeches  are 
singularly  free  from  extravagant  statements,  many  of  the  speakers  defending 
their  claims  by  able  arguments.  A  spirit  of  universal  brotherhood  was 
evinced  and  men  of  all  nationalities  participated  in  the  discussions.  Every 
night  in  the  week  societies  of  workingmen  'held  meetings  and  discussed  their 
grievances,  some  with  open,  and  some  with  closed,  doors.  Organizations  for 
mutual  benefit  and  for  the  building  and  ownership  of  houses  and  homesteads 
had  been  formed.  Unions  exist  where  least  expected,  some  of  them  having 
well-furnished  and  alluring  halls  under  their  own  control,  never  seeking  pub- 
licity, and  some  even  concealing  their  membership.  In  many  trades  there  are 
union  men  who  keep  up  a  form  of  organization,  meeting  monthly  or  at  the 
call  of  the  officers,  often  without  a  quorum,  the  remaining  members  seldom 
paying  dues  or  fines.  They  are  simply  rallying  points  around  which  the 
workmen  gather  in  times  of  danger,  such  as  the  contemplated  reduction  of 
wages,  or  in  periods  of  prosperity,  to  create  a  scarcity  in  the  labor  market  and 
thereby  increase  wages. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1872  that  the  great  strike  occurred 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  which  nearly  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men  were  engaged,  as  the  result  of  which  the  following 


STRIKE    OF    THE    BUILDING    TRADES.  143 

trades  secured  the  eight-hour  day :  bricklayers,  carpenters, 
plasterers,  painters,  plumbers,  brown  and  bluestone-cutters, 
stone  masons,  masons'  laborers,  paper-hangers  (when  work- 
ing by  the  day),  and  plate  printers. 

In  March,  1872,  a  vast  body  of  workingmen  of  New  York 
City,  mostly  of  the  building  trades,  struck  for  the  eight-hour 
system.  The  strike  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  order, 
and  on  June  loth  a  procession  paraded  the  streets,  with 
bands  of  music,  flags  and  banners  of  many  descriptions. 

On  June  ipth  the  employers,  four  hundred  in  number,  held 
a  conference  to  secure  concerted  action  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  ten-hour  system.  Mr.  Andrew  J.  Campbell  was  elected 
president,  and  in  his  address,  said  :  — 

The  present  convulsion  in  the  industrial  interests  of  the  city  demands  deci- 
sive action.  About  seven  thousand  men  are  walking  the  streets  of  New  York 
in  behalf  of  a  principle,  destructive  to  the  business  interests  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. The  country  is  not  in  such  a  state  of  business  prosperity  as  will 
warrant  a  concession  to  the  demand  for  eight  hours.  It  may  be  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  that  it  will  be  expedient  to  grant  those  terms,  but  at  present  it 
would  be  ruinous. 

The  New  York  Tribune  of  June  24th  thus  refers  to  the 
strike  editorially  :  — 

The  great  strike  still  pending  in  New  York  City  has  been,  in  its  various 
aspects,  the  most  remarkable  we  have  ever  had  in  America.  The  length  of 
time  over  which  it  has  extended  (nearly  three  months),  the  numbers  of  men 
and  varieties  of  trades  engaged  in  it,  and  its  disastrous  effects  on  the  welfare 
of  the  workingmen  and  the  trades,  have  been  unparalleled.  Not  one  trade, 
but  scores,  have  engaged  in  it.  All  the  trades  have  been  convulsed,  and  alto- 
gether three-fourths  of  all  the  journeymen  in  the  city  have  been  on  strike 
for  more  time.  Of  the  three-fourths  who  have  struck,  more  than  one-half 
have  gained  their  point;  but  over  eleven  thousand  are  still  unsuccessful  and 
without  present  clear  prospect  of  success. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1872,  Horace  Greeley  wrote  as  fol- 
lows :  "  The  dissatisfaction  has  extended  into  all  the  leading 
mechanical  trades,  and  in  almost  every  instance  the  employ- 
ers have  acceded  to  the  demands  of  their  men." 

At  the  Convention  of  the  Boston  Eight-hour  League,  in 
1872,  Mr.  Ira  Steward,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions, presented  the  following  resolutions,  which  we  give 


144  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

space  to  here,  because  they  form  one  of  the  most  condensed 
statements  of  the  question  ever  presented  to  the  public  :  — 


Resolved,  That  poverty  is  the  great  fact  with  which  the  labor  movement 
deals ; 

That  co-operation  in  labor  is  the  final  result  to  be  obtained ; 

That  a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  is  the  first  step  in  labor  reform  ;  and 
that  the  emancipation  of  labor  from  the  slavery  and  ignorance  of  poverty 
solves  all  of  the  problems  that  now  most  disturb  and  perplex  mankind. 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  legislation  on  the  hours  of  labor  as  follows  :  — 

1.  An  amendment  to  the  Patent  Laws  of  the  United  States,  by  which  an 
exclusive  right  to  make  or  sell  shall  be  forfeited  when  persons  are  employed 
in  manufacturing  an  article  patented,  more  than  eight  hours  a  day. 

2.  An  amendment  to  the  Acts  of  Incorporation  of  cities  and  towns,  requir- 
ing them  to  adopt  the  eight-hour  rule  in  the  employment  of  all  mechanics 
and  day  laborers,  and  the  same  hours  to  apply  to  the  same  class  at  work  for 
the  State,  whether  directly  or  indirectly,  through  persons,  firms  or  corpora- 
tions contracting  with  the  State. 

v  3.  Manufacturing  corporations  to  adopt  the  eight-hour  system  or  surrender 
their  charters. 

4.  All  persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age  to  be  employed  not  more  than 
eight  hours  a  day.       . 

5.  Eight  hours  to  be  made  a  legal  day's  work  in  the  absence  of  a  written 
agreement. 

Resolved,  That  this  legislation,  though  affecting  directly  but  a  small  per 
cent,  of  the  people,  will  establish  the  facts  most  important  for  the  working 
classes  to  learn  : 

That  eight  hours  do  not  mean  less  wages; 

That  men  are  never  paid  as  a  rule  according  to  what  they  earn,  but  accord- 
ing to  the  average  cost  of  living; 

That  in  the  long  run — within  certain  limits  —  less  hours  means  more  pay, 
whether  they  work  by  the  day  or  work  by  the  piece ; 

That  reducing  the  hours  increases  the  purchasing  power  of  wages  as  well  as 
the  amount  of  wealth  produced; 

That  dear  men  mean  cheap  productions,  and  cheap  men  mean  dear  pro- 
ductions ; 

That  six  cents  a  day  in  China  is  dearest,  and  three  dollars  a  day  in  America 
is  cheapest; 

That  the  moral  causes  that  have  made  three  dollars  a  day  cheaper  than 
six  cents  a  day,  will  make  higher  wages  still  cheaper; 

That  less  hours  mean  reducing  the  profits  and  fortunes  that  are  made  on 
labor  or  its  results ; 

More  knowledge  and  more  capital  for  the  laborer :  The  wage  system  gradu- 
ally disappearing  through  higher  wages ; 

Less  poor  people  to  borrow  money,  and  less  wealthy  ones  to  lend  it,  and  a 
natural  decline  in  the  rates  of  interest  on  money ; 

More  idlers  working,  and  more  workers  thinking;  the  motives  to  fraud 
reduced,  and  fewer  calls  for  special  legislation ; 


LORDS    OF    THE    LOOM    AND    LASH.  145 

Woman's  wages  increased,  her  household  labor  reduced,  better  opportuni- 
ties for  thought  and  action,  and  the  creation  of  motives  strong  enough  to 
demand  and  secure  the  ballot; 

Reaching  the  great  causes  of  intemperance  —  extreme  wealth  and  extreme 
poverty ; 

And  the  salvation  of  republican  institutions. 

Resolved,  That  whether  National  Banks  are  abolished  or  bonds  are  taxed, 
or  whether  taxes  or  tariffs  are  high  or  low,  or  whether  greenbacks  or  gold,  or 
any  system  of  finance  proposed  is  adopted,  or  civil  service,  or  one  term  for 
President  shall  prevail,  are  not  laborers'  questions,  because  they  have  no  appre- 
ciable relation  to  the  -wage  system  through  which  the  wage  classes  secure  all 
that  they  can  ever  obtain  of  the  world's  wealth,  until  they  become  sufficiently 
wealthy  and  intelligent  to  co-operate  in  its  production ;  and  whether  the 
masses  have  anything  to  choose  between  President  Grant  and  Horace  Greeley, 
turns  entirely  on  the  question  which  one  of  the  two  will  be  most  likely  to 
secure  the  legislation  we  demand,  as  well  as  the  enforcement,  upon  all  gov- 
ernment works,  of  the  law  already  enacted. 

Resolved,  That  the  factory  system  of  Massachusetts  that  employs  tens  of 
thousands  of  women  and  children  eleven  and  twelve  hours  a  day;  that  owns 
or  controls  in  its  own  selfish  interest  the  pulpit  and  the  press  ;  that  prevents 
the  operative  classes  from  making  themselves  felt  in  behalf  of  less  hours, 
through  a  remorseless  exercise  of  the  power  of  discharge ;  that  is  rearing  a 
population  of  children  and  youth  whose  sickly  appearance  and  scanty  or 
utterly  neglected  schooling,  means  a  class  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  State,  is  proving,  year  by  year,  that  "  the  lords  of  the  loom  and 
the  lords  of  the  lash"  were  natural  allies  in  the  conflict  between  Freedom  and 
Slavery;  and  that  those  who  voted  against  ten  hours  legislation  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Legislature  would  have  voted  for  slavery  at  the  behest  of  their 
masters,  the  cotton  lords,  as  they  have  voted  that  this  barbarism  shall  con- 
tinue to  the  scandal  and  shame  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Resolved,  That  the  recent  onslaught  made  in  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
ture upon  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  at  the  command  of  the  banking 
capital  of  the  State,  under  the  generalship  of  the  Boston  Advertiser,  means 
stifling  investigation  concerning  the  poverty  of  the  working-classes,  and 
argues  the  efficiency  and  fidelity  with  which  the  Bureau  has  conducted  its 
investigations. 

Resolved,  That  our  greetings  and  plaudits  go  out  to  the  Nine-hour  Engi- 
neers of  England,  as  well  as  to  the  workingmen  on  the  Continent,  whose 
strikes  for  less  hours  have  helped  on  to  victory  this  simultaneous  uprising  of 
labor  everywhere ;  and  to  the  Trades-Unionists  of  New  York,  who  represent 
the  manhood  and  conscience,  the  brains  and  hope  of  their  class,  whose  repre- 
sentatives we  have  summoned,  and  now  welcome  to  our  platform,  we  return 
our  most  profound  and  hearty  congratulations  for  their  triumphant  success, 
and  if  they  faithfully  preserve  the  precious  hours  they  have  wrung  from  toil, 
by  remorsely  branding  as  traitors  to  the  cause  all  who  accept  "  overwork  "  for 
any  consideration  whatever,  they  will  find  themselves  sustained  in  the  com- 
ing years,  and  will  prove  how  much  this  movement  has  contributed  to  the 
grander  civilization  of  the  future,  while  the  whole  world  of  Avorkers  will  be 
filled  with  the  sound  of  their  praises  and  the  inspiration  of  their  example. 

(10) 


iq.6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

At  this  time  the  great  strike  for  the  eight-hour  system  was 
going  on  in  New  York,  some  recent  strikes  in  that  city  hav- 
ing been  successful,  and  delegates  from  the  New  York  Work- 
ingmen's  Unions  were  present  at  this  convention,  addressing 
the  audience  in  the  evening.  One  of  the  speakers  said  that 
at  that  time  there  were  fifty  trades-unions  in  New  York  City 
holding  weekly  meetings. 

During  this  year,  in  some  places,  the  manufacturers  com- 
bined, binding  themselves  in  one  place  in  the  sum  of  one 
thousand  dollars  each  to  break  up  the  organizations  of  the 
workmen. 

Strikes  of  the  coopers  occurred  in  1872  and  1873  against 
the  sugar  refineries  using  barrels  made  in  other  localities. 
The  men  admitted  that  the  sugar  refiners  had  a  right  to  pur- 
chase barrels  where  and  of  whom  they  chose,  but  claimed  that 
they  had  a  right  to  work  for  whom  they  chose,  and  would  not 
work  for  the  refineries  that  purchased  barrels  elsewhere. 

It  was  also  during  the  agitation  of  1872  that  a  new  form  of 
labor  organization  came  into  existence,  called  the  Christian 
Labor  Union  of  Boston.  The  best  known  members  of  this 
organization  were  Hon.  T.  Wharton  Collens,  of  New  Or- 
leans, La.,  a  lawyer  and  ex-judge,  and  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church ;  Rev.  Jesse  H.  Jones,  of  North  Abington, 
Mass.,  a  Congregational  clergyman;  Henry  T.  Delano, 
senior  deacon  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  of 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  and  Edward  H.  Rogers,  of  the  Warner 
Street  M.  E.  Church,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.  This  union  was 
active  for  several  years,  and  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
labor  organizations.  It  held  two  conventions  and  conducted 
two  periodicals,  one  succeeding  the  other.  It  raised  and 
expended  about  two  thousand  dollars  during  its  existence  in 
the  promulgation  of  its  principles.  It  was  brought  to  a  close 
by  the  death  of  its  principal  patron,  Judge  Collens,  in  1878. 
Its  preamble  set  forth  its  object  to  be  to  obey  Christ's  com- 
mand, "follow  me,"  and  to  secure  obedience  to  it  in  the  con- 
duct of  every  form  of  human  labor.  It  adopted  the  Bible 
principle  of  the  Hebrew  Church,  in  its  relation  to  land,  labor 
and  capital.  Its  objects  were  to  lift  men  out  of  their  poverty 


EXTREME   SUFFERING   OF    1873-4.  X47 

by  moral  and  religious  influences,  and  reform  measures.  It 
presented  the  following  questions  for  prayerful  considera- 
tion :  — 

1st.  Do  not  the  teachings,  example  and  spirit  of  Jesus  require  of  his 
churches  to  day,  that  there  should  be  mutual  care  in  sickness,  and  such  sys- 
tematic provision  for  the  help  of  those  who  have  need,  that  the  degrading 
sense  of  pauperism  which  now  too  often  embitters  their  hard  lot  may  be 
removed  ? 

ad.  Do  they  not  now  require  the  church  to  establish  labor  partnerships 
and  other  industrial  co-operative  organizations,  as  a  part  of  its  Christian 
duty  to  its  members  ? 

3d.  Do  they  not  also  now  require  that  the  principle  of  labor  service  of  each 
other  as  exemplified  by  the  Master,  in  washing  the  feet  of  his  disciples,  should 
constitute  the  Law  of  Industry  and  Exchange,  and  inasmuch  as  this  requires 
concert  of  action,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  the  church  to  sustain  those  who  aban- 
don the  present  maxims  of  trade,  and  endeavor  to  act  upon  the  principle 
which  is  inspired  by  Philosophy  and  Religion,  that  Cost  is  the  just  limit  of 
Price? 

The  winter  of  1873-4  was  one  of  extreme  suffering,  espe- 
cially in  the  large  cities.  Midwinter  found  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  people  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  suffering  for  food, 
for  the  need  of  proper  clothing,  and  for  medical  attendance. 
Meetings  of  the  unemployed  were  held  in  many  places,  and 
public  attention  called  to  the  needs  of  the  poor.  Many  of 
the  charitable  societies,  as  well  as  private  individuals,  did  all 
it  was  possible  for  them  to  do  to  relieve  the  distress.  The 
men  asked  for  work  and  found  it  not,  and  children  cried  for 
bread. 

On  the  announcement  of  public  meetings  of  the  unemployed, 
the  conscience-pricked  communities  took  alarm  and  feared 
that  the  bringing  together  of  so  many  heretofore  patient  suf- 
ferers might  imperil  their  lives  and  property.  From  the  ear- 
liest days  of  the  agitation  of  the  question  of  the  relations  of 
labor  and  capital,  free  speech  had  been  often  restrained,  and 
sometimes  forbidden.  This  had  been  especially  true  in  those 
smaller  towns  and  manufacturing  centres  where  the  owner  of 
the  principal  industry  was  practically  the  owner  of  the  com- 
munity—  of  the  halls,  churches,  school-rooms  and  the  press, 
but  up  to  this  time  no  great  outrage  upon  the  freedom  of 
speech  had  attracted  public  attention. 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  unemployed  and  suffering  poor  of  New  York  City 
determined  to  hold  a  meeting  and  appeal  to  the  public  by 
bringing  to  their  attention  the  spectacle  of  their  poverty. 
They  gained  permission  from  the  Board  of  Police  to  parade 
the  streets  and  hold  a  meeting  in  Tompkins  Square,  on  the 
I3th  of  January,  1874,  but  on  the  I2th  of  January  the  Board 
of  Police  and  Board  of  Parks  revoked  the  order  and  pro- 
hibited the  meeting.  It  was  impossible  to  notify  the  scattered 
army  of  this  order,  and  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  the  people 
marched  through  the  gates  of  Tompkins  Square.  No  officer 
of  the  government  and  no  method  excepting  the  public  press 
had  been  utilized  to  inform  the  people  of  the  determination  of 
the  city  authorities.  When  the  square  was  completely  filled 
with  men,  women  and  children,  without  a  moment's  warning, 
the  police  closed  in  upon  them  on  all  sides. 

One  of  the  daily  papers  of  the  city  confessed  that  the  scene 
could  not  be  described.  People  rushed  from  the  gates  and 
through  the  streets,  followed  by  the  mounted  officers  at  full 
speed,  charging  upon  them  without  provocation.  Screams 
of  women  and  children  rent  the  air,  and  the  blood  of  many 
stained  the  streets,  and  to  the  further  shame  of  this  outrage 
it  is  to  be  added  that  when  the  General  Assembly  of  New 
York  State  was  called  to  this  matter,  they  took  testimony,  but 
made  no  sign. 

John  Swinton,  a  man  whose  unswerving  fealty  to  the  cause 
of  the  poor  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  even  his  enemies, 
in  his  appeal  to  the  Legislature,  addressed  to  the  Committee 
on  Grievances,  well  said  :  — 

Never  has  the  Committee  on  Grievances  been  asked  to  investigate  any 
grievance  more  cruel,  flagrant  or  lamentable,  —  more  repugnant  to  human 
nature,  more  insulting  to  human  misery,  more  deeply  taken  to  heart  by  those 
who  suffered  from  it  or  who  sympathise  with  the  sufferers,  more  subversive 
of  the  living  principles  of  our  political  system,  more  pervasive  and  porten- 
tous in  its  influence,  or  bearing  upon  a  larger  number  of  your  fellow-citizens, 
than  the  grievance  about  which  you  have  consented  to  give  us  a  hearing.  We 
have  come  to  ask  you  to  investigate  the  facts  —  to  make  inquiry,  take  evidence 
and  receive  affidavits  —  to  adjudge  whether  the  municipal  authorities  of  New 
York,  who  exist  through  your  legislation  and  permission,  perpetrated  an  ap- 
palling wrong,  grossly  violated  popular  rights,  shamefully  outraged  helpless 
Suffering,  disregarded  the  ordinary  amenities  of  civilized  society,  disturbed 


THE    TOMPKINS     SQUARE    OUTRAGE.  149 

public  order  and  assassinated  constitutional  liberty.  These  are  formidable 
•words,  jet  they  but  feebly  represent  the  things  for  which  they  stand,  and 
•which  have  now  brought  us  here. 

He  then  described  the  suffering  of  the  terrible  winter  which 
led  to  the  convening  of  the  meeting,  and  described  in  detail 
the  scenes  there,  and  ended  as  follows  :  — 

We  ask,  in  brief,  then,  gentlemen  of  the  Committee  on  Grievances,  that 
you  make  such  report  to  the  Legislature  as  will  immediately  secure  a  thor- 
ough investigation  of  this  whole  matter,  to  be  made  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
where  the  witnesses  are  at  hand. 

We  further  ask  that  the  Police  Board  which  perpetrated  these  cruel,  flagrant 
and  horrible  outrages  against  the  unemployed  and  suffering  workingmen  of 
New  York,  be  abolished,  and  that  instead  thereof  a  new  Board  be  created,  to 
be  elected  by  popular  suffrage,  according  to  the  orthodox  political  system  of 
our  Government. 

These  are  my  two  propositions,  dealing  not  with  party  politics,  but  with 
popular  rights,  which  cannot  be  subverted  without  the  subversion  of  the  fun- 
damental basis  of  American  liberty.  I  pray  you  so  to  deal  with  the  matter  — 
and  I  stand  here,  not  as  a  hired  agent  or  attorney  of  anybody  or  any  cause, 
but  merely  as  one  whose  heart  has  been  touched  by  the  wrongs  of  those  who 
have  had  but  few  to  speak  for  them,  and  who,  on  that  account,  has  been  asked 
to  become  one  of  their  spokesmen  —  I  pray  you  so  to  deal  with  it  that  you 
may  vindicate  for  all  time  those  great  constitutional  principles  which  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  our  Republic,  and  by  which  alone  the  public  welfare  can  be 
maintained. 

I  close  with  the  prophetic  warnfng  of  Longfellow,  which,  let  us  hope,  may 
never  hereafter  be  applicable  to  any  wronged  or  victimized  class  in  our  coun- 
try:- 

"  There  is  a  poor  blind  Samson  in  our  land, 
Shorn  of  his  strength  and  bound  with  bonds  of  steel, 
Who  may  in  some  grim  revel  raise  his  hand, 
And  shake  the  pillars  of  the  commonweal." 

Gentlemen,  we  have  done. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  many  industrial  congresses 
was  held  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  commencing  April  14,  1874, 
Robert  Schilling,  of  the  Coopers'  Union,  acting  as  president. 
Among  the  trades'  organizations  represented  were  machin- 
ists and  blacksmiths,  binders,  coopers,  shoemakers,  tailors, 
cigarmakers,  miners,  quarrymen,  iron  moulders,  printers, 
tobacco  laborers,  iron  and  steel  roll  makers ;  and  of  other 
organizations  there  were  present  the  Industrial  Council, 
Labor  Council,  the  Workingmen's  Central  Council  of  New 
York,  Trades  Assemblies,  Industrial  Brotherhood,  the  Grand 


150  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Division  of  the  Conductors'  Brotherhood,  Sovereigns  of  In- 
dustry, and  Daughters  of  St.  Crispin-. 

President  Schilling,  in  his  address,  called  upon  the  Con- 
gress to  devise  means  by  which  the  public  could  be  informed 
as  to  the  real  objects  and  purposes  of  its  assembling.  He 
said:  "It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  many  oppose  us  in  our 
efforts,  merely  because  they  do  not  understand  or  comprehend 
the  principles  which  we  advocate."  The  public  press  at  that 
time  practically  ignored  the  movement.  Mr.  Schilling  sent 
circulars  to  over  three  hundred  daily  and  weekly  papers  in 
every  State  and  Territory,  and  only  one  newspaper  outside  of 
the  labor  press  took  any  notice  of  it,  while  at  the  same  time 
great  publicity  was  given  to  a  letter  written  by  a  deposed 
officer  of  one  of  the  most  powerful  labor  organizations,  with 
a  view  of  disrupting  that  order.  He  especially  commended 
the  Workingmen 's  Advocate,  of  Chicago ;  the  Independent 
Workingman,  of  Nashville;  the  Iron  Workers'  Journal, 
the  Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  Journal,  and  the  Coopers' 
New  Monthly.  He  strongly  favored  political  action ;  he 
said :  "To  this  end  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  form 
ourselves  into  a  new  party  or  attach  ourselves  to  any  party 
now  existing,  or  that  may  hereafter  be  formed,  but  merely 
that  we  vote  for  men  of  honesty  and  ability,  and  against  cor- 
ruptionists  and  monopolists."  He  desired  to  see  some  form 
of  organization  similar  in  its  objects  and  purposes  to  the 
Patrons  of  Husbandry,  so  that  they  would  be  able  to  co-oper- 
ate with  farmers  and  all  other  classes  of  producers.  Letters 
were  received  from  the  president  of  the  Mechanics'  State 
Council  of  California,  and  from  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
Connecticut  Labor  Union. 

Among  the  resolutions  adopted  was  one  which  says  :  "  We 
are  opposed  to  strikes  on  principle,  and  advocate  the  settle- 
ment of  all  grievances  by  arbitration.  This  would  be  the  means 
of  creating  a  better  feeling  beween  employers  and  employees, 
and  would  be  a  guarantee  against  advantage  being  taken  on 
either  side  during  business  prosperity  or  adversity."  A  very 
large  part  of  the  time  of  the  convention  was  taken  up  in  con- 
sidering the  question  of  organization  and  constitution,  some 


THE  ROCHESTER  CONGRESS. 

of  the  delegates  desiring  to  create  an  order  similar  to  the 
Industrial  Brotherhood,  while  others  favored  the  Sovereigns 
of  Industry  plan.  The  leaders  of  these  two  great  organiza- 
tions were  present,  and  the  Committee  on  Constitution  was 
made  up  of  the  author  of  this  history  as  chairman  ;  John  Fer- 
renbatch,  of  Ohio,  then  president  of  the  Machinists'  and 
Blacksmiths'  Union ;  George  Blair,  of  New  York ;  M.  H. 
Smith,  of  Vermont;  T.  Dwyer,  of  Michigan;  W.  H.  Earle, 
of  Massachusetts,  the  representative  of  the  Sovereigns  of 
Industry ;  and  E.  Warner,  of  Missouri,  who  represented  the 
Industrial  Brotherhood. 

The  Workingmen 's  Advocate  in  reviewing  the  work  of 
this  Congress,  said  :  — 

For  nine  successive  years  we  have  had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  attending 
the  deliberations  of  these  national  assemblages,  and  it  has  never  been  our  privi- 
lege during  that  time  to  meet  a  more  intelligent,  truth-seeking,  persistent  and 
enthusiastic  body  of  men  than  were  present  at  the  Rochester  Congress.  The 
all-pervading,  all-engrossing  idea  manifested  was  the  necessity  of  devising, 
perfecting  and  adopting  a  plan  of  organization,  which  will  secure  the  co-oper- 
ation of  the  industrial  classes  under  one  banner,  irrespective  of  trades  and 
callings,  and  this  idea  happily  overshadowed  all  other  considerations.  Al- 
though no  definite  line  of  policy  has  as  yet  been  adopted,  the  committee  to 
whom  the  duty  of  drafting  a  constitution  has  been  entrusted  are  gentlemen 
who  bring  to  the  discharge  of  their  duties  a  ripe  experience  and  comprehensive 
judgment.  The  platform  adopted  is  certainly  an  admirable  document,  setting 
forth  in  clear  and  terse  terms  the  principles  upon  which  the  organization  is 
founded. 

Executive  officers  were  appointed  for  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Indiana,  West  Virginia,  Ohio,  Minnesota,  Virginia, 
New  Jersey,  Michigan,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Wisconsin, 
Connecticut,  Tennessee  and  Vermont. 

The  platform  containing  their  declaration  of  principles, 
adopted  in  1874,  read  as  follows:  — 

WHEREAS,  The  recent  alarming  development  and  aggression  of  aggregated 
wealth,  which,  unless  checked,  will  inevitably  lead  to  the  pauperization  and 
hopeless  degradation  of  the  toiling  masses,  renders  it  imperative,  if  we  desire 
to  enjoy  the  blessings  cf  the  government  bequeathed  us  by  the  founders  of 
the  Republic,  that  a  check  should  be  placed  upon  its  power  and  unjust  accu- 
mulation, and  a  system  adopted  which  will  secure  to  the  laborer  the  fruits  of 
his  toil ;  and 

WHEREAS,  This   much  desired  object  can  only  be  accomplished  by   the 


152  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

thorough  unification  of  labor,  and  the  united  efforts  of  those  who  obey  the 
Divine  injunction  that  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  thou  shalt  eat  thy  bread ;"  and 

WHEREAS,  The  great  desideratum  of  the  hour  is  the  organization  and  direc- 
tion, by  co-operative  efforts,  of  the  power  of  the  producing  masses  for  their 
substantial  elevation,  yet  we  recognize  in  the  ballot-box  the  great  agency 
through  which  our  wrongs  can  be  redressed ;  and 

WHEREAS,  While  we  fully  recognize  the  power  and  efficacy  of  trade  and 
labor  unions,  as  now  organized,  in  regulating  purely  trade  matters,  yet  upon 
all  questions  appertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  masses  as  a  whole,  the  influ- 
ence of  these  organizations,  without  closer  union,  must  prove  comparatively 
futile;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  we  submit  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  objects 
sought  to  be  accomplished  by  the  Industrial  Congress  :  — 

ist.  To  bring  within  the  folds  of  the  organization  every  department  of  pro* 
ductive  industry,  making  knowledge  a  standpoint  for  action,  and  industrial, 
moral,  and  social  worth  —  not  wealth  —  the  true  standard  of  individual  and 
national  greatness. 

2d.  To  secure  to  the  toilers  a  just  share  of  the  wealth  they  create;  more  of 
the  leisure  that  rightfully  belongs  to  them ;  more  society  advantages ;  more 
of  the  benefits,  privileges,  and  emoluments  of  the  world;  —  in  a  word,  all 
those  rights  and  privileges  necessary  to  make  them  capable  of  enjoying,  ap- 
preciating, defending,  and  perpetuating  the  blessings  of  our  Republican 
government. 

3d.  To  arrive  at  the  true  condition  of  the  producing  masses  in  their  educa- 
tional, moral  and  financial  condition,  we  demand  from  the  several  States  and 
from  the  National  Government  the  establishment  of  Bureaus  of  Labor  Sta- 
tistics. 

4th.  The  establishment  of  co-operative  institutions,  productive  and  dis- 
tributive. 

5th.  The  reserving  of  the  public  lands,  the  heritage  of  the  people,  for  the 
actual  settler;  not  another  acre  for  railroads  or  speculators. 

6th.  The  abrogation  of  all  laws  that  do  not  bear  equally  upon  capital  and 
labor,  the  removal  of  unjust  technicalities,  delays  and  discriminations  in  the 
administration  of  justice,  and  the  adoption  of  measures  providing  for  the 
health  and  safety  of  those  engaged  in  mining,  manufacturing  and  building 
pursuits. 

7th.  The  enactment  of  a  law  to  compel  chartered  corporations  to  pay  their 
employees  at  least  once  in  every  month,  in  full,  for  labor  performed  during  the 
preceding  month,  in  the  lawful  money  of  the  country. 

8th.  The  enactment  of  a  law  giving  mechanics  and  laborers  first  lien  on 
their  work;  and  also  preventing  stays  of  execution  in  case  of  labor  lien  judg- 
ments. 

9th.  The  abolishment  of  the  contract  system  on  national,  State,  and  mu- 
nicipal work. 

zoth.  To  inaugurate  a  system  of  public  markets  to  facilitate  the  exchange 
of  products  of  farmers  and  mechanics,  tending  to  do  away  with  middle-men 
and  speculators. 

nth.  To  inaugurate  a  system  of  cheap  transportation,  to  facilitate  the  ex- 
change of  commodities. 


FOUR    YEARS    OF    LOW   WAGES.  153 

i2th.  The  substitution  of  arbitration  for  strikes,  whenever  and  wherever 
employers  and  employees  are  willing  to  meet  on  equitable  grounds. 

i3th.  The  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  all  servile  races,  and  the  dis- 
continuance of  all  subsidies  granted  to  national  vessels  bringing  them  to  our 
shores. 

i4th.  To  advance  the  standard  of  American  mechanics,  by  the  enactment 
and  enforcement  of  equitable  apprentice-laws. 

I5th.  To  abolish  the  system  of  letting  by  contract  the  labor  of  convicts  in 
our  prisons  and  reformatory  institutions. 

i6th.  To  secure  for  both  sexes  equal  pay  for  equal  work. 

1 7th.  The  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  per  day,  so  that  the 
laborers  may  have  more  time  for  social  enjoyment  and  intellectual  improve- 
ment, and  be  enabled  to  reap  the  advantages  conferred  by  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery, which  their  brains  have  created. 

iSth.  The  establishing  by  Government  of  a  just  standard  of  distribution  to 
labor  and  capital,  by  providing  a  purely  national  circulating  medium,  based 
on  the  faith  and  resources  of  the  nation,  issued  directly  to  the  people,  without 
the  intervention  of  any  system  of  banking  corporations,  which  money  shall 
be  a  legal  tender  in  the  payment  of  all  debts,  public  and  private,  and  interchange- 
able at  the  option  of  the  holder  for  registered  Government  bonds,  bearing  a 
rate  of  interest  not  to  exceed  three  and  sixty-five  one-hundredths  per  cent., 
subject  to  future  legislation  by  Congress. 

From  1873  to  1876  many  strikes  occurred  in  the  cotton  and 
woollen  factories  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut. In  many  of  these  places  the  men  had  no  organiza- 
tions, but  after  striking  they  proceeded  to  form  themselves  into 
unions,  which  at  the  end  of  the  strikes  were  generally  dissolved 
until  reorganized  into  Assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

The  industries  were  becoming  somewhat  relieved  from  the 
industrial  depression  of  1873.  The  working  people  had  suf- 
fered four  years  of  low  wages  and  all  its  consequent  evils ; 
millions  of  men  had  been  unable  to  obtain  employment,  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  families  were  suffering  for  the  necessities 
of  life.  Great  strikes  occurred  in  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
especially  in  the  States  of  Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Missouri,  Maryland,  Ohio,  and  New  York.  In  one  of  the 
strikes  of  the  coal  miners  at  this  time  thirty  thousand  persons 
were  involved, — men,  women,  and  children.  The  miners 
were  reduced  almost  to  starvation,  and  dwelt  in  communities 
in  camps,  subsisting  on  coarse  food  provided  from  the  com- 
mon fund.  In  Susquehanna,  Penn.,  twelve  hundred  machin- 
ists employed  on  the  Erie  Railroad  paraded,  carrying  the 


154  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

American  flag.  The  militia  guarded  the  railroad  property. 
The  men  claimed  that  the  superintendent  created  the  strike. 
They  also  claimed  that  they  had  not  been  paid  for  months. 
Ten  thousand  cigarmakers  were  on  strike  in  New  York  City. 

In  the  strikes  that  occurred  at  this  period  a  great  deal  of 
bitterness  was  evinced  against  trades-union  organizations,  and 
men  were  blacklisted  to  an  extent  hardly  ever  equaled.  In 
many  instances  when  men  struck  against  a  reduction  or  for 
an  increase,  or  were  locked  out,  employers  in  the  same  trade 
were  notified  of  difficulties  and  requested  not  to  employ  any 
workmen  from  their  vicinity.  The  difficulty  in  the  settlement 
of  the  disputes  was  not  so  much  the  objection  of  the  employers 
to  pay  the  prices  asked,  as  a  false  sense  of  dignity  and  a  re- 
fusal to  recognize  labor  organizations.  Labor  troubles  occured 
in  Washington,  —  and  the  departments  were  visited  by  unem- 
ployed men  seeking  work. 

The  movement  in  1874  na^  reached  colossal  proportions. 
At  this  time  the  nations  of  the  earth  were  at  peace  with  each 
other,  while  the  Labor  question  threatened  to  develop  into 
open  war.  A  Boston  paper  published  in  May  of  that  year, 
said :  "  Great  hostile  combinations  of  capitalists  and  laborers 
stand  facing  each  other.  In  the  agricultural  sections  of  En- 
gland the  farmers  are  determined  to  starve  more  than  four 
thousand  of  their  fellows,  not  into  working  for  a  certain 
amount  of  pay,  but  into  withdrawing  from  a  union  into  which 
they  entered  for  the  maintenance  of  their  common  interests." 

A  Labor  Reform  Convention  was  held  at  Worcester  in  1875, 
at  which  resolutions  were  adopted  with  reference  to  the  hours 
of  labor,  and  many  other  matters  concerning  the  Labor  ques- 
tion. 

In  1877  the  Workingmen's  Party  of  the  United  States  held 
a  State  Convention  in  Boston,  October  ist.  It  proposed,  among 
other  things,  to  adopt  measures  to  protect  the  people  from  the 
extortions  of  monopolists  and  speculators,  and  nominated  Wen- 
dell Phillips  for  Governor. 

The  great  railroad  strikes  of  1877  began  on  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad  in  consequence  of  a  reduction  of  ten  per  cent, 
in  the  wages  of  the  employees.  The  reduction  was  to  go 


GREAT    RAILROAD    STRIKES    OF    1877.  155 

into  effect  on  Monday,  July  i6th.  A  circular  containing  this 
announcement  created  almost  a  panic  among  the  workmen. 
Meetings  of  employees  were  held  at  different  points  along  the 
road,  and  a  plan  of  action  was  agreed  upon.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  confer  with  the  officers  of  the  company. 
The  vice-president  was  appealed  to,  but  declined  to  hear  their 
complaints.  Efforts  were  then  made  to  have  the  order  re- 
scinded. Many  men  expressed  themselves  in  favor  of  strik- 
ing, but  it  does  not  appear  that  up  to  the  morning  of  the  i6th 
any  movement  had  been  agreed  upon.  That  day  found  the 
men  all  at  work  as  usual.  The  officers  had  partly  anticipated 
a  strike,  but  as  the  day  wore  and  dispatches  were  received 
from  the  different  stations  on  their  fourteen  hundred  miles  of 
railway,  they  began  to  be  satisfied  that  the  hard  times  would 
deter  the  men  from  entering  upon  a  strike.  At  four  o'clock 
on  the  afternoon  of  that  day  about  forty-five  of  the  firemen 
at  Camden  Junction  quit  their  engines  and  persuaded  twenty 
or  thirty  brakemen  to  join  them  in  deserting  the  trains.  An- 
other force  of  firemen  and  brakemen  were  engaged  to  take 
out  the  waiting  trains.  The  announcement  was  then  received 
that  the  railroad  men  at  Cumberland,  Martinsburg  and  other 
places  were  discontented  and  insubordinate,  and  that  the 
canal  boatmen  had  quit  work  and  abandoned  their  boats. 
At  six  o'clock  of  the  same  day  the  box-makers,  sawyers  and 
can-makers  engaged  in  the  shops  at  Baltimore  struck  for  an 
advance  of  ten  per  cent,  in  their  wages.  The  strike  of  these 
workmen  naturally  affected  the  railroad  men.  Late  in  the 
evening  the  general  strike  was  set  on  foot  in  Martinsburg, 
and  all  trains  were  side-tracked  while  brakemen  and  firemen 
who  manifested  an  intention  to  continue  at  their  posts  were 
forced  to  leave  their  engines  and  trains.  At  Cumberland  the 
situation  was  the  same.  At  Geyser  and  Grafton  the  train 
men  had  obtained  complete  possession  and  no  freight  trains 
were  moved.  Vice-president  King  telegraphed  to  Governor 
Matthews  of  West  Virginia  to  furnish  troops  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  company,  and  the  Governor  telegraphed  to 
Captain  Faulkner  to  afford  the  officers  of  the  road  all  the  aid 
and  protection  necessary. 


156  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  i7th  a  freight  train  was  thrown  from 
the  track  at  South  Baltimore,  and  the  engineer  and  firemen 
were  both  injured.  At  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 7th  Captain  Faulkner  arrived  at  Martinsburg  in  command 
of  seventy-five  men  and  deployed  them  to  guard  a  western- 
bound  freight  train,  but  before  the  train  had  reached  the 
switch  one  of  the  strikers  seized  the  switch-ball  for  the  pur- 
pose of  side-tracking  the  train.  One  of  the  guards  attempted 
to  replace  the  switch,  in  order  to  allow  the  train  to  proceed, 
when  the  striker  drew  a  pistol  and  fired  two  shots  at  the 
guard.  Upon  this  a  number  of  shots  were  fired  at  the 
striker,  who  was  shot  in  the  head  and  arms.  The  report  of 
firearms  attracted  a  multitude  of  railroad  men  and  citizens 
to  the  spot.  The  engineer  and  fireman  engaged  to  run  the 
train  fled  when  the  firing  commenced.  Captain  Faulkner 
then  led  his  men  back  to  the  armory.  The  strikers  in  pos- 
session of  the  road,  the  cars  were  uncoupled  and  link-pins 
were  either  hidden  or  broken.  The  strikers  were  greatly 
assisted  by  the  citizens  of  the  town  and  the  rural  population. 
Railroad  men  from  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railroad  arrived 
in  considerable  numbers.  Governor  Matthews,  with  the  Mat- 
thews Guard,  left  Wheeling  for  Martinsburg,  and  had  pro- 
ceeded as  far  as  Cumberland  when  he  received  intelligence 
that  the  strike  had  reached  the  capital,  when  he  hastily  re- 
turned. Two  military  companies  at  Martinsburg  affiliated  with 
the  strikers.  Governor  Matthews,  upon  his  return  to  Wheel- 
ing, appealed  to  President  Hayes  for  assistance.  The  Presi- 
dent issued  a  proclamation  and  ordered  a  body  of  regulars  to 
Martinsburg. 

On  the  third  day  the  workmen  at  Baltimore  issued  a  circu- 
lar containing  a  statement  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  strike. 
They  declared  that  they  had  submitted  to  three  reductions  of 
wages  in  three  years ;  that  they  would  have  acquiesced  in  a 
moderate  reduction ;  that  they  were  frequently  sent  out  on  a 
trip  to  Martinsburg  and  there  detained  at  the  discretion  of  the 
company,  for  which  detention  they  were  allowed  pay  for  but 
two  days  ;  that  they  were  compelled  to  pay  their  board  during 
the  time  that  they  were  detained,  which  was  more  than  the 


THE    MILITARY   AND    THE    STRIKERS.  157 

wages  they  received,  so  that  they  had  nothing  left  with  which 
to  support  their  families ;  that  many  times  out  on  the  road 
they  could  not  get  more  than  fifteen  days'  work  in  a  month  ; 
that  many  sober,  steady,  economical  men  became  involved  in 
debt ;  that  honest  men  had  their  wages  attached  because  they 
could  not  meet  their  expenses,  and  that  by  the  rules  of  the 
company  any  man  whose  wages  were  attached  should  be  dis- 
charged ;  that  this  was  a  tyranny  to  which  no  rational  being 
should  submit ;  and  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  a  man 
with  a  family  to  support  himself  and  family. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  third  day  an  attempt  was  made 
to  start  a  freight  train  from  Martinsburg  towards  Baltimore. 
The  locomotive  was  fired  up  while  guarded  by  United  States 
troops.  A  large  number  of  strikers  had  assembled.  The 
Sheriff  was  present  with  a  posse  and  an  engineer  named  Brad- 
ford was  found  willing  to  take  out  the  train.  He  got  upon 
the  engine,  and  just  as  the  train  was  about  to  move  away,  his 
wife  mounted  the  engine  and  with  agonizing  cries  besought 
him  to  leave  the  position.  The  engineer  heeded  the  entreaty 
and  departed  from  the  engine,  followed  by  the  fireman.  An- 
other engineer  was  found,  but  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  aban- 
don the  undertaking. 

At  Baltimore  the  excitement  had  become  intense.  While 
the  troops  were  marching  through  the  streets,  which  were 
practically  blockaded  with  a  crowd  of  people,  the  men,  with- 
out orders  from  their  commander,  fired  into  the  crowd.  Many 
men  were  seen  to  drop ;  women  screamed  and  fainted  in  the 
streets,  and  children  mingled  their  piercing  cries  with  the 
general  uproar.  The  crowd  shrank  back  and  the  militia 
marched  down,  but  before  they  had  proceeded  two  squares 
the  crowd  was  as  large  as  before.  When  opposite  the  office 
of  the  American  newspaper  a  halt  was  called  and  an- 
other volley  was  received  by  the  people  with  mingled  cries  of 
agony,  threats,  and  jeers.  Paving  stones  were  gathered  and 
hurled  into  the  ranks  of  the  soldiers.  The  military  again 
took  up  their  march  and  another  fusillade  left  more  dead  and 
dying  in  the  streets. 

On  the  morning  of  July  ipth  the  men  of  the  Pennsylvania 


158  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Central  Railroad,  apparently  without  previous  agreement,  re- 
fused to  take  out  any  freight  trains  from  Pittsburgh.  Not  a 
freight  train  left  the  station  that  day.  The  men  explained 
that  their  action  was  in  consequence  of  the  determination  of 
the  company  to  introduce  what  was  known  as  "  double-head- 
ers," a  system  by  which  the  company  could  dispense  with  a 
number  of  employees  and  increase  the  work  of  the  remaining 
men.  The  men  on  this  road  had  already  had  their  wages  re- 
duced ten  per  cent.,  commencing  June  ist.  A  conference 
between  the  representatives  of  the  road  at  Pittsburgh  and  the 
workmen  was  held,  but  the  road  would  make  no  concessions. 

Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott,  the  President  of  the  road,  was 
absent  from  the  city  during  the  trouble,  but  was  in  constant 
communication  with  his  representatives  and  dictated  the  policy 
to  be  pursued  by  the  officers.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  he 
could  have  averted  the  strike  and  could  have  ended  the  con- 
flict after  it  was  begun. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2istthe  infantry  forces  of  Alleghany 
County,  Pennsylvania,  which  had  been  called  out  for  duty, 
were  re-enforced  by  two  batteries  and  two  bodies  of  calvary. 
To  these  were  added  the  First  Division  of  the  National 
Guards  of  Pennsylvania  which  had  been  called  out  at  Phila- 
delphia the  preceding  night.  This  force  was  under  com- 
mand of  Major-General  Brunton. 

These  preparations  on  the  part  of  the  government  did 
not  seem  to  deter  the  strikers  or  the  mob.  On  the  contrary 
they  expressed  the  greatest  contempt  for  the  military  array, 
and  freely  mingled  with  the  soldiers.  At  half-past  three  in 
the  afternoon,  Sheriff  Fife,  accompanied  by  a  posse  of  fifteen 
men,  and  supported  by  troops  under  Major-General  Brunton, 
started  for  the  general  rendezvous  of  the  strikers  and  the 
mob  at  the  Eighth  Street  crossing.  It  had  been  agreed  by 
the  civil  and  military  authorities  that  the  sheriff  was  to  at- 
tempt the  arrest  of  those  for  whom  warrants  had  been 
issued,  and  resistance  was  expected.  The  sheriff  and  his 
men,  followed  by  the  military,  marched  along  the  tracks  to 
the  depot,  greeted  with  the  yells  and  jeers  of  the  crowd. 

The  military  proceeded  to  clear  the  track,  and  the  sheriff 


SOLDIERS    BESIEGED. 

to  make  the  arrests.  A  vast  crowd  gathered  composed  of 
strikers  and  of  citizens  in  sympathy  with  the  strikers,  many 
of  them  property  holders.  The  sheriff  arrested  one  man. 
Accounts  differ  as  to  what  immediately  followed,  but  it 
appears  that  before  any  act  of  resistance  was  made,  the  offi- 
cer in  command  ordered  his  men  to  fire  upon  the  crowd. 
The  fire  of  the  soldiers  was  very  destructive ;  sixteen  persons 
were  instantly  killed.  The  whole  people  were  aroused  and 
almost  the  entire  populace  was  in  the  streets. 

A  large  body  raided  the  gun-shops  and  ammunition  stores, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  they  seized  over  two  thousand  guns, 
together  with  pistols,  swords  and  knives,  —  in  all  about 
$100,000  worth  of  arms  and  ammunition.  The  Philadelphia 
militia  were  besieged  in  the  round-house,  and  were  wraited 
upon  by  a  committee  of  the  citizens  and  requested  to  leave 
the  city,  as  their •  presence  only  tended  to  arouse  the  angry 
populace. 

On  Sunday  morning,  July  22d,  the  mob  fired  the  trains  in 
some  of  the  buildings  of  the  company.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  storm  the  round-house  in  which  the  soldiers  were 
besieged ;  a  breach  was  made  in  the  walls,  but  the  mob  was 
driven  back  by  the  fire  of  the  soldiers.  They  then  retired 
from  that  vicinity,  the  soldiers  marching  out  and  proceeding 
some  distance  before  their  departure  was  discovered.  The 
mob  pursued,  and  severe  fighting  ensued,  until  the  troops 
had  reached  Shaftsburg,  beyond  Alleghany,  from  which  place 
they  marched  twelve  miles,  to  Claremount. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-five  locomotives  and  railroad 
buildings  to  the  value  of  about  a  million  dollars  were 
destroyed  by  fire.  No  private  property  of  any  kind  except- 
ing arms  and  ammunition  was  interfered  with  during  the 
whole  course  of  the  riot.  In  the  end  the  strikers  were  forced 
to  give  up  the  fight.  Great  excitement  prevailed  at  Chicago, 
where  conflicts  occurred  between  the  rioters  and  the  police, 
the  women  being  among  the  most  demonstrative. 

Dissatisfaction  existed  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  at 
St.  Louis,  the  wages  having  been  reduced  to  a  point  which 
the  men  declared  was  insufficient  for  the  support  of  them- 


l6o  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

selves  and  families.  A  meeting  was  held  by  the  railroad  em- 
ployees, and  it  was  determined  to  call  upon  Mr.  Talmage  to 
demand  a  restoration  of  the  wages  paid  before  the  reduction. 
Mr.  Oliver  Garrison,  vice-president  and  general  manager  of 
the  road,  readily  assented  to  the  restoration  of  wages  to  a  sum 
satisfactory  to  them. 

At  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  meetings  of  the  employees  were  held 
on  the  24th  of  July,  and  all  quit  work  at  noon,  and  no  freight 
trains  were  allowed  to  depart.  All  labor  was  discontinued 
throughout  the  city.  On  the  2pth  a  consultation  was  held 
between  the  executive  committee  of  the  strikers  and  an  arbi- 
tration committee  on  the  part  of  the  railroad,  and  the  disa- 
greement was  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

The  terrible  events  at  Pittsburgh  called  forth  from  repre- 
sentatives of  capital,  the  pulpit  and  the  press  such  expressions 
of  bitterness,  such  unreasonable  opposition  to  labor  organiza- 
tions and  such  demands  for  the  strong  arm  of  the  law,  as  to 
cause  many  people  to  reflect  upon  the  causes  which  produced 
these  results.  It  is  true  that  the  workingmen  all  over  the 
country  were  thoroughly  aroused  with  indignation  at  the  terri- 
ble poverty  and  condition  of  their  fellows  employed  in  the 
mines  and  on  the  great  railroads.  This  feeling  extended 
from  Maine  to  California,  and  had  a  deeper  root  in  the  mind 
of  what  is  termed  the  conservative  American  element  of  the 
workingmen  than  the  public  had  any  idea  of.  Secret  meet- 
ings of  working  were  held,  and  the  question  discussed  in  all 
its  bearings.  Men  were  armed,  and  ready  to  be  armed,  in  the 
belief  that  it  might  be  necessary  for  self-protection.  Atone 
of  the  meetings  held  in  Boston  an  address  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts labor  men  to  the  public  was  drafted  by  George  E. 
McNeill,  which  was  adopted  and  widely  circulated.  This 
address  acted  as  a  safety  valve  for  the  excited  feelings  of 
organized  labor. 

The  firemen  and  brakemen  of  the  railroads  centering  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  coopers,  iron  workers  and  other  craftsmen 
went  on  strike. 

Organizations  heretofore  unknown  made  their  existence 
manifest  about  this  period.  Among  these  were  the  silver 


INTERNATIONAL    LABOR    UNION    OF    AMERICA.  l6l 

gilders,  brush-makers,  carvers,  confectioners,  fresco-painters, 
pastry-cooks,  potters,'  stationary  engineers,  and  the  Interna- 
tional Labor  Union  of  America.  This  last,  though  never 
exceedingly  large  in  membership,  had  branches  in  seventeen 
States  of  the  Union.  Agitation  meetings  were  held  under  its 
auspices  in  the  principal  cities,  and  its  declaration  of  princi- 
ples and  methods  of  work  were  extensively  quoted.  As  it  has 
sometimes  been  confounded  with  the  International  Organiza- 
tion of  Europe,  we  give  entire  its  declaration  of  principles, 
measures,  and  methods  :  — 

The  safety  of  society  depends  upon  the  equality  of  rights  and  opportunities 
of  all  its  members ;  and  whenever,  from  any  cause,  the  freedom  of  a  part  of 
the  community  is  endangered,  either  in  their  political  or  economic  rights,  it 
behooves  the  people  to  devise  methods  by  which  the  usurpations  of  the  pow- 
erful shall  be  overthrown,  and  the  fullest  freedom  of  the  humblest  be  main- 
tained. The  political  rights  of  a  people  are  not  more  sacred  than  their 
economic  rights,  and  to  prevent  a  class  from  possessing  all  the  material 
advantages  of  a  progressive  civilization  is  as  much  an  act  of  tyranny  as  to 
prevent  them  from  exercising  their  right  of  self-government. 

The  victory  over  "  divine-right"  rulership  must  be  supplemented  by  a  vic- 
tory over  property-right  rulers  ;  for  there  can  be  no  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  where  the  many  are  dependent  upon  the 
few  for  an  existence.  Men  will  sacrifice  their  liberties  for  their  lives,  and 
those  who  control  the  industries  of  a  people  can  and  do  control  their  votes. 

The  wage-workers  of  the  world  are  forced  by  their  poverty  into  deadly  com- 
petition with  each  other.  Race  is  thrown  into  antagonism  with  race,  and 
nations  of  peoples  are  driven  by  their  necessities  to  retard  the  progress  of 
their  fellows.  In  this  remorseless  warfare  upon  human  welfare,  the  holiest 
ties  of  life  are  destroyed.  The  girl  of  sixteen  is  made  to  compete  with  the 
woman  of  thirty;  the  boy  of  nineteen  against  the  man  of  forty.  Children- 
are  driven  from  their  home  and  the  school,  and  men  are  forced  to  live  in  idle- 
ness upon  the  paltry  earnings  of  their  wives  and  little  ones. 

The  achievements  of  liberty  are  the  epochs  of  history.  Villainage,  serfdom 
and  chattel  slavery  —  the  past  systems  of  labor  —  have  forever  disappeared. 
The  laborers  of  the  civilized  world  have  gained  the  right  to  starve.  It  now 
rests  with  them  to  secure  the  right  of  possession  to  the  products  of  their 
labor. 

The  liberty  of  labor  is  the  hope  of  the  world,  and  that  liberty  can  only  be 
obtained  by  the  solidarity  of  laborers  upon  labor  measures.  We  therefore,  in 
the  interests  of  a  common  brotherhood,  declare:  — 

i st.  That  the  wage-system  is  a  despotism,  under  which  the  wage-worker  is 
forced  to  sell  his  labor  at  such  price  and  such  conditions  as  the  employer  of 
labor  shall  dictate. 

2d.  That  political  liberty  cannot  long  continue  under  economic  bondage; 
for  he  who  is  forced  to  sell  his  labor  or  starve,  will  sell  his  franchise  when 
the  same  alternative  is  presented. 


l62  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

3d.  That  civilization  means  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  wealth ;  and  the  present  system  of  labor  tends  to  extremes  of  culture 
and  ignorance,  affluence  and  penury. 

5th.  That  as  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  distributed  through  the  wage  system, 
its  better  distribution  must  come  through  higher  wages,  and  better  oppor- 
tunities, until  wages  shall  represent  the  earnings  and  not  the  necessities  of 
labor;  thus  melting  profit  upon  labor  out  of  existence,  and  making  co-opera- 
tion, or  self-employed  labor,  the  natural  and  logical  step  from  wage  slavery 
to  free  labor. 

6th.  That  all  attempts  to  anticipate  co-operation  in  advance  of  societary 
conditions  are  exotics  or  mere  hot-house  growths  that  are  kept  alive  for  a 
time  through  the  sheer  force  of  character  and  self-sacrificing  leadership  at- 
tempting them,  and  are  as  foreign  to  an  atmosphere  of  cheap  labor  and  a 
world  of  wages  as  the  plants  of  the  tropics  in  a  northern  clime. 

7th.  That  the  first  step,  towards  the  emancipation  of  labor  is  a  reduction 
of  the  hours  of  labor,  that  the  added  leisure  produced  by  a  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  will  operate  upon  the  natural  causes  that  affect  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  people,  enlarging  wants,  stimulating  ambition,  decreasing 
idleness,  and  increasing  wages. 

We,  therefore,  believing  that  the  emancipation  of  labor  can  only  be 
achieved  by  the  organization  of  the  laborers  into  a  great  protective  propa- 
ganda of  the  principles  enunciated  in  the  foregoing  declaration  of  principles, 
and  in  response  to  a  demand  made  upon  us  by  various  labor  organizations 
and  wage-workers  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  severally  agree  to  form 
ourselves  into  a  committee,  known  as  the  Provisional  Central  Committee  of 
the  International  Labor  Union,  whose  objects  shall  be  to  secure  the  following 
measures: — The  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor;  higher  wages;  factory, 
mine,  and  workshop  inspection ;  abolition  of  the  contract  convict  labor  and 
trnck  system ;  employers  to  be  held  responsible  for  accidents  by  neglected 
machinery;  prohibition  of  child  labor;  the  establishment  of  labor  bureaus. 

Labor  propaganda  by  means  of  a  labor  press,  labor  lectures,  the  employ- 
ment of  a  general  organizer,  and  the  final  abolition  of  the  wage  system. 

The  methods  by  which  we  propose  to  secure  these  measures  are  :  — 

ist.  The  formation  of  an  Amalgamated  Union  of  laborers  so  that  mem- 
bers of  any  calling  can  combine  under  a  central  head,  and  form  a  part  of  the 
Amalgamated  Trades  Unions. 

2nd.  The  establishment  of  a  general  fund  for  benefit  and  protective  pur- 
poses. 

3d.  The  organization  of  all  workingmen  in  their  trade  unions,  and  the 
creation  of  such  unions  where  none  exist. 

4th.     The  National  and  International  amalgamation  of  all  labor  unions. 

In  this  hour  of  the  dark  distress  of  labor,  we  call  upon  all  laborers  of  what- 
ever nationality,  creed  or  color,  skilled  and  unskilled,  trades  unionist,  and 
those  now  out  of  union,  to  join  hands  with  us  and  each  other  to  the  end  that 
poverty  and  all  its  attendant  evils  shall  be  abolished  forever, 

The  Central  Committee  was  to  be  composed  of  one  member 
from  each  State,  and  in  any  State  where  ten  branches  were 


KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR    APPEAR.  163 

formed  they  were  to  elect  a  member  of  the  committee.  No 
person  could  be  admitted  who  had  acted  contrary  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  labor  movement  or  had  been  excluded  from  any 
other  labor  organization  for  misconduct,  until  such  satisfaction 
be  given  to  the  injured  parties  as  might  be  ordered  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council.  Workmen  who  refused  to  join  the  organiza- 
tions of  their  trade  or  calling,  provided  such  organizations  ex- 
isted and  were  recognized  as  bona  fide  societies,  could  not  be 
admitted  into  membership.  Persons  who  were  not  wage- 
workers,  but  who  were  in  full  accord  with  the  letter  and  the 
spirit  of  the  organization,  and  who  would  agree  to  be  governed 
by  the  code  of  laws,  could  be  admitted  by  a  unanimous  vote 
of  a  branch  meeting  and  the  consent  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee. This  organization  had  an  employment  committee 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  employment  for  its  members, 
and  propaganda  contingent,  out-of-work,  travelling,  and 
sick  and  burial  funds.  The  special  organ  was  the  New 
York  Labor  Standard,  edited  by  J.  P.  McDonnell  of  Pater- 
son,  New  Jersey.  The  headquarters  of  the  order,  and  of 
the  paper,  were  afterwards  removed  to  Paterson.  The 
most  effective  work  was  accomplished  in  1878.  It  was 
during  the  last-named  year  that  the  order  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor  became  known  to  the  public. 

In  1878  the  Forty-fifth  United  States  Congress  adopted  a 
resolution  appointing  a  committee  of  seven  members  of  the 
House  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  the  general  depression  of 
business,  especially  of  labor,  and  to  devise  and  propose  meas- 
ures for  relief.  Hendrick  B.  Wright,  was  chairman  of  the 
committee.  Testimony  was  taken  in  Chicago,  San  Francisco, 
Des  Moines,  New  York,  and  Boston,  principally  on  the  con- 
traction of  the  currency  and  land  monopoly.  The  committee 
reported  the  testimony  in  full. 

In  1878  and  1879  ^e  Fourth  of  July  was  made  an  occasion 
of  public  demonstrations  in  the  advocacy  of  the  Labor  move- 
ment. In  1878  George  E.  McNeill,  of  Boston,  was  the  orator 
of  the  occasion  at  Chicago,  and  in  1879  Mr.  ^ra  Steward,  of 
Boston,  was  the  orator  in  that  city,  and  in  St.  Louis  Jonathan 
C.  Fincher  was  the  principal  speaker. 


164  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

In  the  fall  of  1879  a  young  man,  then  confined  in  the  hos- 
pital in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  being  treated  for  malarial  fever,  wrote 
an  open  letter  for  publication  and  addressed  it  to  the  Labor 
Standard,  published  in  that  city.  The  letter  was  published 
over  the  signature  of  its  author,  and  at  the  next  session  ot  the 
grand  jury  the  author  of  the  letter  and  the  editor  of  the  paper 
were  both  indicted  for  libel  and  brought  before  Judge  Dick- 
inson, tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  sixty  days  imprison- 
ment in  the  Passaic  county  jail.  The  letter  referred  to  de- 
scribed the  condition  of  the  people  working  in  a  brick-yard  at 
Mountain  View,  N.  J.  He  said  the  hours  of  -labor  were  from 
four  in  the  morning  till  six  at  night ;  at  seven  o'clock  the  men 
were  called  to  breakfast,  which  he  said  consisted  of  a  pitcher- 
full  of  hot  water  which  the  cook  called  coffee,  but  which  the 
men  called  "strike  water,'*  which  means  the  water  used  for 
washing  the  strikes  which  clean  off  the  bricks  ;  that  the  food 
consisted  of  salt  pork  and  bread  and  butter ;  complaint  was 
made  that  the  bread  was  sour  and  that  the  butter  was  more 
like  axle-grease  ;  that  the  bread  was  baked  hard  on  the  out- 
side and  was  underdone  on  the  inside ;  that  the  dinner  and 
supper  were  of  about  the  same  description  ;  that  men  were 
forced  to  lodge  in  shanties  through  the  roofs  of  which  the  rain 
flowed  in  torrents  at  times  ;  that  the  beds  were  unwashed  and 
the  place  filled  with  vermin.  He  also  referred  to  the  treat- 
ment he  had  received  while  sick  there  before  going  to  the  Sis- 
ters' hospital.  The  evidence  at  the  trial  strongly  sustained  the 
charges  made  by  the  writer  of  the  letter,  and  the  conviction 
and  punishment  called  forth  a  storm  of  indignation,  not  only  in 
Paterson,  but  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  coun- 
try. Trades  assemblies,  labor  councils,  trades-unions,  and 
all  kinds  of  workingmen's  organizations,  passed  resolutions 
severely  criticising  the  action  of  the  court  and  sustaining  the 
editor,  J.  P.  McDonnell,  and  the  writer,  Mr.  Michael  Menton, 
as  martyrs  to  the  cause.  On  the  day  of  their  release  a  public 
reception  was  given  to  the  imprisoned  men,  the  streets,  were 
thronged  with  a  crowd  never  equalled  in  that  city.  This  was 
the  second  time  that  Mr.  McDonnell  had  been  convicted  for 
rendering  service  to  the  cause  of  Labor. 


THE    COLORED    EXODUS.  165 

In  1879  some  excitement  was  caused  by  the  exodus  of  the 
colored  people  from  Mississippi  to  Kansas.  The  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor  Statistics  of  the  latter  State,  in  treating  this 
question,  says :  "  Dismal  forebodings  were  expressed  by  the 
papers  and  echoed  by  many  citizens  of  Kansas  regarding 
the  future  of  these  sojourners  from  the  sunny  South  as  they 
camped  upon  the  bleak  prairies  of  Kansas,  and  doubtless 
there  were  ample  grounds  for  this  apprehension."  It  is  esti- 
mated that  about  two  thousand  people  thus  emigrated.  An  in- 
vestigation has  been  made  into  their  condition,  which  shows 
that  as  a  rule  they  were  very  much  better  off  in  their  new 
homes.  The  commissioner  says  :  — 

When  these  people  first  landed  they  were,  as  a  class,  utterly  destitute.  They 
had  exhausted  their  last  cent  in  reaching  the  land  of  promise,  and  they  had 
no  food  to  save  them  from  starvation  and  no  roof  to  shelter  them.  Many 
were  shipped  to  Topeka.  They  have  managed  to  erect  small  shanties  in  the 
ravine  where  they  first  landed,  and  have  managed  to  subsist,  some  of  them 
say,  better  than  they  did  in  their  Southern  homes. 

The  cause  of  the  exodus  was  poverty  and  bad  treatment. 
An  investigation  into  the  average  daily  wages  showed  the 
average  daily  earnings  to  be  $262.75  against  $333.09  earned 
by  white  laborers  in  a  like  column,  given  in  the  report. 

Numerous  strikes  occurred  in  1880.  The  drivers  of  the 
Third  Avenue  line  of  horse-cars  in  New  York  City  struck  on 
Sunday,  June  27th,  against  the  wages  and  the  long  hours. 
The  police  were  called  out  and  held  in  readiness.  The  strike 
was  a  failure.  Strikes  also  occurred  among  the  ribbon-weavers 
of  Paterson,  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  against  a  reduction 
of  twenty  per  cent.  There  were  strikes  among  furniture  work- 
ers in  different  parts  of  the  country,  among  the  cotton-yard 
men  in  New  Orleans  for  an  advance  of  wages,  among  the 
stable-men  of  New  York  for  an  advance  of  wages,  in  San 
Francisco,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  other  places,  for  the 
abolition  of  Sunday  work.  Strikes  occurred  in  Louisiana 
among  the  colored  men  for  an  advance  to  one  dollar  a  day, 
in  which  instance  the  military  were  called  out.  The  ship- 
butchers'  union,  of  New  York,  struck  for  less  hours  of  work. 
Gingham  weavers  and  cotton  and  woolen  operatives  struck 


l66  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

in  the  New  England  States,  where  in  some  cases,  notably  that 
of  the  gingham-weavers,  dividends  of  from  twenty  to  forty 
per  cent,  had  been  paid,  and  at  the  time  of  the  strike  fifteen 
to  twenty  per  cent,  had  been  paid,  and  the  stock  had  gone  up 
to  double  its  par  value.  In  Omaha,  Neb.,  the  men  in  the 
smelting  works  struck.  At  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  cotton  operatives 
struck  for  a  ten  per  cent,  advance.  In  Barberville,  Va.,  there 
was  a  strike  of  colored  laborers.  The  barbers  and  journey- 
men of  New  York  organized  against  five-cent  shops.  The 
stock-yard  men  in  Chicago  denounced  the  interference  of  the 
police  in  their  strike.  The  men  employed  on  the  Hoosac 
Tunnel  struck  for  eight  hours  a  day  and  were  defeated. 
Wages  were  increased  in  some  of  the  cotton  and  woolen- 
mills.  Among  cabinet  and  desk-makers  wages  were  ad- 
vanced. Strikes  occurred  on  some  of  the  railroads ;  wages 
were  advanced  on  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern.  A 
general  advance  in  wages  was  granted  to  miners.  Fifty  cents 
per  day  was  granted  as  the  result  of  a  strike  of  some  of  the 
stone  masons  in  New  York.  The  strike  fever  spread  among 
the  boys,  and  at  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  two  hundred  boys  employed 
in  the  cotton-mills  struck,  many  of  them  being  under  twelve 
years  of  age.  They  had  banners  inscribed  "  United  we  stand, 
divided  we  fall,"  "Good  news  from  Fall  River,"  "Ours  is  a 
hard  fate — all  work  and  no  time  to  play  in  God's  sunshine," 
"Pity  us  poor  children  who  have  to  work,"  etc.  The  State 
of  Vermont  was  also  invaded  by  this  spirit ;  the  boys  in  a 
carding-room  of  a  woolen-mill  struck ;  some  of  them  were 
receiving  four  dollars  a  week  for  doing  men's  work.  A  news- 
paper at  the  time  reported  that  the  superintendent  shook  one 
or.  two  of  them  and  the  rest  went  to  work.  From  the  Labor 
Standard  of  March  20,  1880,  we  copy  a  list  of  the  strikes 
and  meetings  reported  in  that  issue.  Strikes  were  reported 
of  potters  at  Green  Point,  L.  I. ;  puddlers  of  Johnstown  and 
Columbia,  Penn.  ;  -and  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  over  seven  thousand 
men  involved;  journeymen  tailors  of  New  York;  train  and 
track-men  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  at  Piedmont, 
W.  Va.,  struck  for  a  ten  per  cent,  advance  ;  boys  engaged  in 
a  rope-walk  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  woolen  weavers  in  Glenham, 


NEW    ORLEANS    WORKINGMEN.  167 

N.  Y.,  iron-workers  in  Pottstown,  Penn.,  and  shoemakers  at 
Greensburg,  Ind.,  were  on  strike. 

The  National  Labor  Congress  convened  at  Pittsburgh, 
Penn.,  125  members  being  present  at  the  opening,  represent- 
ing a  constituency  of  222,856.  The  Congress  demanded  a 
repeal  of  the  conspiracy  acts,  abolition  of  the  contract  con- 
vict labor  system,  passed  resolutions  in  sympathy  with  the 
suffering  in  Ireland,  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bureau  of  labor  statistics,  favored  the  abolition  of  the  truck 
system,  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of  compulsory  education 
of  all  children  fourteen  years  of  age,  the  ventilation  of  mines 
and  work-shops,  the  providing  of  fire-escapes,  the  mechanics' 
lien  law,  the  incorporation  of  trades-unions,  and  the  prohibi- 
tion of  Chinese  immigration. 

At  Paterson,  N.  J.,  a  movement  was  made  by  the  working- 
men  to  prevent  the  employment  of  labor  on  Sunday,  and  the 
announcement  of  the  meeting  contained  this  statement :  "An- 
other mill  started  on  Sunday  ;  almost  as  large  an  attendance 
as  can  be  found  in  some  of  our  churches.  Business  is  boom- 
ing, though  religion  and  good  morals  suffer.  The  Almighty 
Dollar  must  be  worshipped." 

The  Central  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  of  New  Orleans 
is  an  association  of  all  the  labor  organizations  of  the  city. 
This  fraternization  was  brought  about  by  a  movement  inaug- 
urated in  the  summer  of  1881  by  the  Typographical  Union, 
and  especially  by  its  president,  Mr.  William  J.  Hammond, 
the  first  president  of  the  new  association. 

This  Union  appointed  a  committee  to  bring  about  a  meet- 
ing of  accredited  persons  from  different  labor  and  trades- 
unions  of  the  city,  in  order  to  amalgamate  all  men  who 
earned  their  living  by  labor  into  a  compact  combination,  for 
the  purpose  of  mutual  aid  and  support  in  all  controversies  be- 
tween labor  and  capital,  and  issued  a  circular  calling  a  meet- 
ing for  Sunday  evening,  August  2,  1881,  to  appoint  an 
executive  committee  to  supervise  the  organization  of  an 
amalgamated  trades  and  labor  union  for  New  Orleans,  and 
for  putting  it  on  a  working  basis. 

At  this  time  there  were  in  existence  in  that  city  several 


l68  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

organizations,  already  strong  in  numbers  ;  but  it  was  thought 
that  the  interests  of  the  working  classes  could  best  be  sub- 
served by  such  a  consolidation  as  was  proposed,  and,  as  a 
result  of  this,  a  confederation  was  formed  by  the  organization 
of  a  Central  Assembly  or  Council,  composed  of  three  dele- 
gates from  each  of  the  associations  admitted  to  the  union,  and 
vested  with  general  legislative  and  executive  powers  over 
matters  of  the  assembly. 

By  this  alliance  the  strength,  influence,  and  financial  re- 
sources of  the  thirty  odd  labor  organizations  in  the  city, 
embracing  almost  every  branch  of  mechanical  and  industrial 
pursuits,  were  combined.  Any  one  of  the  constituted  bodies 
could  strike,  if  it  saw  fit ;  but  it  could  receive  the  support  of 
the  entire  body  only  after  the  complaints  had  been  considered 
by  the  central  body  and  approved  as  sufficient  grounds  for 
a  strike. 

The  success  of  the  organization  was  such  that  in  1883  the 
total  membership  was  about  fifteen  thousand.  In  November 
of  that  year  there  was  a  parade  of  the  bodies  composing  the 
assembly,  ten  thousand  men  being  in  line,  representing  all 
countries,  colors,  and  industries.  The  parade  was  a  brilliant 
success,  and  was  repeated  on  November  25,  1884,  and  on  the 
same  date,  1885.  John  Delaney  was  Grand  Marshal  in 
1883  ;  in  1884,  R.  F.  Gray,  of  the  Typographical  Union, 
was  President  of  the  Assembly,  and  acted  as  Grand  Marshal 
in  the  parade  ;  and  J.  H.  Connors  was  Grand  Marshal  in  the 
parade  of  1885. 

The  formation  of  this  association  of  trades  and  labor  unions 
is  confessed  to  have  done  more  to  break  the  color  line  in  New 
Orleans  than  any  other  thing  that  has  been  done  since  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  ;  and  to-day  the  white  and  colored 
laborers  of  that  city  are  as  fraternal  in  their  relations  as  they 
are  in  any  part  of  the  country,  —  the  negroes,  especially,  tak- 
ing great  pride  in  their  loyalty  to  their  organizations. 

In  1882  strikes  again  multipled.  Extensive  strikes  occurred 
in  some  of  the  iron  districts.  A  strike  occurred  in  the  stock- 
yards at  Chicago,  111. ,  the  principal  firms  demanding  a  promise 
from  employees  that  they  would  not  belong  to  any  union.  The 


FEDERATION    OF   TRADES,    ETC.  169 

First  Regiment  was  held  in  readiness  to  assist  the  Sheriff  in 

o 

maintaining  peace. 

Coke  employees  at  Mansfield,  Penri.,  struck,  and  com- 
plaint was  made  by  the  working  people  of  Pennsylvania 
against  the  importation  of  Hungarians  ;  circulars  were  issued 
by  the  men  stating  their  claims  and  that  women  and  child- 
ren were  doing  work  fit  only  for  the  stoutest  men.  Women 
were  found  at  work  with  infants  lying  promiscuously  on  the 
ground,  and  girls  under  ten  years  of  age  were  drawing  coke. 
There  was  extreme  filthiness  in  their  houses  and  habits,  some 
of  them  carrying  on  an  illicit  whiskey  traffic,  while  there  was 
extreme  promiscuity  in  their  marital  relations. 

In  1880  a  convention  of  some  of  the  leading  national  and 
international  trades-unions  was  held,  and  an  organization  was 
formed  under  the  name  of  the  Federation  of  Organized  Trades 
and  Labor  Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  This 
Organization  was  to  do  the  work  of  former  labor  congresses. 
The  preamble  declares  that  because  of  the  struggle  going  on 
between  oppressors  and  oppressed,  capitalists  and  laborers, 
in  all  countries,  which  was  growing  in  intensity  and  working 
disastrous  results  to  the  toiling  millions  of  all  nations  if  not 
combined  for  mutual  protection  and  benefit,  and  whereas  even 
a  minority  thoroughly  organized  might  avert  much  danger 
and  organize  relief,  this  federation  should  be  formed.  The 
platform  demands  the  enforcement  of  the  existing  labor  laws 
and  the  enactment  of  others,  and  recommends  all  trade  and 
labor  organizations  to  secure  proper  representation  in  all  law- 
making  bodies  by  means  of  the  ballot.  We  quote  from  the 
report  of  the  secretary,  Frank  K.  Foster,  in  1884. 

Under  the  head  of  "  Organization  "  he  says  :  "  Each  trade 
is  groping  blindly  after  results,  with  more  or  less  defective 
machinery  and  imperfect  perception  of  methods  and  issues. 
Low  dues,  partial  organization  and  neglect  of  business  prin- 
ciples have  hitherto  proved  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  full 
measure  of  success." 

He  speaks  of  the  nominal  triumph  of  Jay  Gould  over  the 
Telegraph  Brotherhood,  the  defeat  of  the  Fall  River  opera- 
tives and  the  bitter  contest  raging  in  the  Hocking  Valley  as 


I7O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

arguments,  not  against  the  principle  of  organization  or  the 
spirit  of  resistance,  but  for  the  more  perfect  unity  of  wage- 
workers.  He  records,  as  the  result  of  four  months'  investi- 
gation ninety-eight  strikes,  involving  fifty-three  thousand 
work-people  ;  fifty  of  them  against  reduction  of  wages,  seven 
for  an  increase,  three  to  establish  a  scale  of  prices,  five 
against  non-union  men,  three  for  less  hours,  four  for  back 
wages,  two  against  signing  contracts,  three  against  shop 
exactions,  and  twenty-two  cause  not  given.  The  trades  in- 
volved in  these  strikes  were  miners,  printers,  metal  workers, 
leather  workers,  building  trades,  railroad  employees,  textile 
operatives,  laborers  and  miscellaneous.  Thirteen  were  suc- 
cessful, fifteen  failures,  fifteen  were  compromised,  and  sixty- 
five  not  recorded. 

Under  the  head  of  the  "  Eight  Hour  Question  "  he  says, 
"  It  appears  to  be  the  generally  expressed  desire  of  the  socie- 
ties represented  in  this  association  that  it  assume  the  initia- 
tive in  a  movement  for  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor." 
He  reports  the  opening  of  fraternal  relations  between  the 
trades-unions  of  France  and  America,  and  mentions  the  dele- 
gation of  fourteen  French  brothers  visiting  this  country,  sent 
by  syndical  chambers  comprising  sixty-eight  of  the-  mechani- 
cal arts  in  the  municipality  of  Paris.  A  resolution  was  adopted 
asking  the  co-operation  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  to  establish 
the  eight-hour  reform. 

This  society  has  continued  its  organization  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  doing  effective  work  in  the  amalgamation  of  labor 
societies.  Demands  for  labor  legislation  and  in  the  National 
Congress  are  continually  made,  and  from  its  formation  up  to 
1886  the  work  of  organization  has  been  carried  on  quietly 
but  effectually. 

The  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  began  to  manifest  itself 
as  a  potent  factor  in  1885,  and  the  strikes  that  occurred  under 
its  auspices  are  matters  of  recent  history,  and  require  no 
space  in  this  chapter. 

The  year  1886  will  be  known  as  the  year  of  the  great  up- 
rising of  labor.  The  future  historian  will  say  :  Trades-unions 
increased  their  membership  and  their  powers  as  never  before. 


THE    COLOR    LINE    BROKEN. 

The  Knights  of  Labor,  who  had  for  seventeen  years  struggled 
against  all  adverse  influences,  added  to  their  membership  by 
tens  of  thousands  weekly.  Trades  and  occupations  that  had 
never  before  been  organized  joined  the  mixed  assemblies  or 
trade  assemblies  of  the  order.  Hope  seemed  to  have  entered 
the  heart  of  the  most  oppressed.  It  was  the  very  dawning  of 
the  day  when  the  term  "dignity  of  labor"  meant  something. 
Laboring  men  who  had  heretofore  considered  themselves  as 
scarcely  more  than  serfs,  without  rights  or  privileges,  fearing 
to  organize,  or  failing  to  do  so  because  of  the  hopelessness  of 
their  condition,  seemed  to  be  inspired  with  a  new  spirit.  So 
great  was  the  increased  membership  that  even  the  largest 
cities  were  unable  to  provide  hall  capacity  for  the  meetings  of 
organized  labor.  The  horse-car  employees,  whose  long  hours 
of  labor  and  barbarous  conditions  had  been  the  shame  of  our 
civilization,  obtained  in  all  the  principal  cities,  a  reduction  in 
their  working  time  and  an  increase  of  wages.  Strikes  pre- 
vailed everywhere.  Thousands  of  grievances  were  settled  by 
peaceful  arbitration.  Every  branch  of  labor  was  affected. 
Heretofore  there  had  existed  a  feeling  of  caste,  even  among 
the  laboring  men ;  the  skilled  mechanic  had  looked  down 
upon  the  unskilled,  the  well-paid  considered  the  ill-paid  as 
hardly  worthy  of  recognition.  The  skilled  and  the  unskilled, 
the  high-paid  and  the  low-paid,  all  joined  hands.  The  color 
line  had  been  broken,  and  black  and  white  were  found  work- 
ing together  in  the  same  cause.  During  the  winter  months 
lectures  had  been  delivered  and  eight-hour  agitation  meetings 
held  at  frequent  intervals.  The  press  was  filled  with  labor  news. 
The  clergy  opened  the  doors  of  their  associations  to  labor  men 
for  the  discussion  of  labor  measures  or  methods.  The  great 
strike  on  the  Southwestern  railroad  system  called  attention 
anew  to  the  giant  monopolies  that  controlled  these  great  inter- 
ests. The  movement  for  less  hours  of  labor  was  partially 
successful,  some  gaining  the  eight-hour  and  some  the  nine- 
hour  day,  while  an  advance  in  wages  was  gained  in  many 
industries. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LABOR    LEGISLATION. 

A  GENERAL  VIEW  —  STATES  LEGISLATE  FOR  CHIEF  INDUSTRIES  —  LEGIS- 
LATION FOR  CHILDREN  —  PROTECTION  FOR  MECHANICS  AND  OTHER 
WORKMEN  —  REGULATING  THE  HOURS  OF  LABOR  —  STATES  WITH  AN 
EIGHT-HOUR  LAW  —  SHORT  HOURS  FOR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN — CHIL- 
DREN MUST  BE  EDUCATED  —  FIRE-ESCAPES  ON  FACTORIES  —  OTHER 
AIDS  TO  THE  EMPLOYEES  —  PROTECTION  FOR  MINERS  —  ARBITRATION 
OF  DISPUTED  POINT* — PROVIDED  IN  NEW  JERSEY  IN  1880  —  THE  LAW 
OF  PENNSYLVANIA  —  SIMILAR  LAWS  IN  OTHER  STATES  —  NEW  YORK'S 
LAW  —  THE  LAW  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  —  BUREAUS  OF  LABOR. 

THE  progress  of  agitation  upon  labor  questions  and  the 
advance  thereon  from  year  to  year  is  easily  traced 
through  the  statutes  of  the  various  legislatures  of  the  coun- 
try. And  yet  there  has  undoubtedly  been  much  agitation  in 
many  States,  which  show  no  real  progress  by  enacted  laws. 
In  them  the  leaven  is  surely  —  even  though  slowly  —  work- 
ing. When  the}'  do  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
they  will  probably  go  beyond  the  point  reached  by  their  sis- 
ter States,  profiting  wisely  by  their  experience,  and  learning 
wherein  to  avoid  their  mistakes.  It  is  hardly  practicable, 
within  the  compass  of  a  book  of  this  nature,  to  state  in  detail 
the  laws  of  the  States  upon  the  important  branches  of  the 
labor  problem.  Only  a  general  view  will  therefore  be  given, 
the  minor  details  being  necessarily  omitted.  Each  State  natu- 
rally has  legislated  with  particular  reference  to  those  depart- 
ments of  labor  that  are  most  prominent  within  its  own  borders. 
The  mining  States  have  their  own  special  laws,  with  hardly 
a  reference  to  manufacturing  interests ;  the  States  where  the 
factory  operatives  are  most  numerous  have  legislated  largely 
in  their  interests ;  while  the  great  agricultural  States  have 
enacted  but  little,  if  any,  legislation  on  these  subjects. 
In  considering  this  subject,  it  will  be  most  practicable  to 


LIEN     LAWS.  173 

divide  it  into  its  natural  departments,  even  as  we  find  the 
States  themselves  have  done  in  their  legislation. 

Many  of  the  States  have  laws  limiting  the  hours  of  labor 
of  children  to  ten  per  day.  It  has  become  a  well  recognized 
truth  that  the  interests  of  the  State  demand  this  care  of  its 
children.  The  laws  relating  to  apprenticeship  are  of  the 
same  general  nature,  providing  for  the  indenture  of  children 
during  their  minority,  after  they  become  of  an  age  when  their 
work  is  of  value,  to  persons  who  stand  to  them  in  the  rela- 
tion of  parents.  These  laws  cover  orphans  and  children  in 
asylums.  In  most  States  the  consent  of  the  children  them- 
selves must  be  obtained  if  they  are  fourteen  years  of  age  or 
over.  The  details  of  laws  on  this  topic  vary  considerably, 
but  all  are  based  on  the  same  general  principle.  Many 
States  also  attempt  to  guard  the  interests  of  th«  mechanics 
and  all  persons  performing  labor  on,  or  furnishing  materials 
for,  any  building,  by  giving  them  a  lien  on  the  structure 
itself  and  on  the  interest  of  the  owner  of  the  lot  on  which  it 
stands.  Many  of  these  laws  have  been  so  amended  as  to 
make  them  practically  inoperative.  They  give  to  employees 
on  railroads  and  steamboats,  and  to  persons-  furnishing  them 
supplies,  a  lien  on  the  franchise,  on  the  gross  earnings  and  real 
and  personal  property  of  the  companies  operating  them ;  and 
this  lien  takes  precedence  of  all  other  claims.  Workmen 
upon  vessels  have  liens  that  have  the  precedence  of  all  others 
except  those  for  mariners'  wages.  Lumbermen  have  liens  on 
the  lumber  for  services  or  supplies  furnished.  Farm  laborers 
have  a  lien  on  the  crops  he  has  helped  produce,  to  secure 
compensation  for  his  labor.  These  liens  are  of  more  or  less 
limited  duration,  varying  with  different  States  and  with  the 
nature  of  the  object  the  lien  is  put  upon.  Miners  also  have 
protection  by  a  per  diem  penalty  and  other  compensations  for 
failure  of  the  companies  to  pay  them  within  certain  regular 
intervals. 

California,  Connecticut  (except  on  farms  and  where  other- 
wise agreed),  Illinois,  New  Mexico  (in  the  mines),  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York  (except  for  farm  labor  and  weekly, 
monthly  or  yearly  contracts) ,  have  come  down  to  the  limit  of 


174  THE    LAB°R    MOVEMENT. 

eight  hours  as  a  legal  day's  work,  and  most  States,  however, 
leave  it  to  be  understood  that  ten  hours  constitute  a  day's 
work  unless  it  is  otherwise  stated.  Various  States  also  have 
special  provision  as  to  the  hours  of  labor  for  women  and  chil- 
dren. Massachusetts  forbids  the  employment  of  minors  under 
eighteen,  and  women  in  all  corporations  for  more  than  ten 
hours  per  day,  except  where  the  hours  are  differently  appor- 
tioned so  as  to  secure  a  shorter  working  day  each  week ;  but 
no  week  shall  have  over  sixty  hours  of  work.  Rhode  Island 
provides  that  minors  between  twelve  and  fifteen  shall  not  work 
more  than  eleven  hours  per  day,  nor  before  5  A.  M.,  nor 
after  7.30  P.  M.  Vermont  limits  the  hours  for  the  work  of 
children  under  fifteen  to  ten  daily.  Wisconsin  and  Dakota 
provide  that  minors  under  eighteen,  and  women,  shall  not 
work  over  eight  hours  per  day  in  manufactories,  workshops 
or  other  places  used  for  mechanical  or  manufacturing  pur- 
poses. These  laws  are  of  little  or  no  effect  where  organized 
labor  can  not  compel  the  standard  thus  fixed  to  become  the 
custom.  California  allows  children  to  work  only  eight  hours 
daily,  except  in  vinicultural  or  horticultural  pursuits. 

In  Connecticut  children  under  fifteen  can  work  in  mechani- 
cal or  manufacturing  establishments  not  more  than  ten  hours 
a  day  or  fifty-eight  hours  a  week.  Indiana  allows  no  minors 
under  eighteen  to  work  more  than  ten  hours  a  day  in  cotton 
or  woolen  factories ;  and  children  under  twelve  must  not  be 
employed  over  eight  hours  per  day.  Maine  and  Maryland 
say  no  minor  under  sixteen  shall  work  over  ten  hours  a  day. 
In  Michigan  children  under  eighteen  and  women  can  work 
only  ten  hours  a  day  or  sixty  hours  a  week,  and  one  hour 
must  be  allowed  for  dinner.  Minnesota  limits  the  hours  also 
to  ten,  and  New  Hampshire  fixes  that  limit  for  minors  under 
fifteen,  New  Jersey  for  those  under  sixteen,  Ohio  for  those 
under  eighteen,  and  Penny Ivania  for  those  under  twenty-one. 
Several  States  absolutely  prohibit  the  employment  in  factories 
of  children  under  a  certain  age,  as  follows :  Indiana,  none 
under  twelve  in  the  manufacture  of  iron,  steel,  nails,  metals, 
machinery  or  tobacco ;  Colorado,  none  under  twelve  in  the 
.mines  ;  Connecticut,  none  under  fourteen,  unless  having  had 


REGULATING    CHILDREN'S    WORK.  1 75 

twelve  weeks'  schooling ;  Illinois  and  Indiana,  none  under 
fourteen  in  the  mines  ;  Iowa  and  Kansas,  none  under  twelve 
in  the  mines ;  Maine,  none  under  twelve,  except  having  had 
four  months'  schooling  in  year  previous ;  Massachusetts,  none 
under  twelve  during  the  hours  when  the  public  schools  are 
in  session  ;  Michigan,  none  under  fourteen,  unless  with  three 
or  four  months'  schooling  in  previous  years ;  Missouri,  none 
under  twelve,  and  none  under  fourteen,  unless  he  or  she  can 
read  and  write,  in  the  coal  mines  ;  New  Hampshire,  none  under 
sixteen,  unless  attended  private  or  public  school  at  least  twelve 
weeks  in  preceding  year  ;  New  Jersey,  no  boy  under  twelve, 
and  no  girl  under  fourteen,  during  school  hours  ;  New  York, 
none  under  fourteen,  except  with  fourteen  weeks'  schooling 
in  previous  year,  and  none  under  eighteen  more  than  sixty 
hours  per  week ;  Ohio,  none  under  twelve ;  Pennsylvania, 
none  under  twelve  in  the  coal  mines,  and  none  under  thirteen 
in  factories.  In  Georgia  the  hours  of  labor  for  persons  under 
twenty-one  in  all  manufacturing  establishments  and  machine 
shops,  are  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

Besides  providing  that  children  shall  be  prohibited  from 
working  in  factories,  except  under  certain  regulations,  the 
State  insists  that  its  children  shall  be  educated  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  in  their  early  years.  Some  States  in  the  Union 
do  not  make  special  laws  upon  this  subject,  although  more- 
or  less  legislation  tends  in  that  direction,  while  some  have 
very  definite  statutes  upon  it.  Connecticut  requires  all  chil- 
dren between  eight  and  sixteen,  of  good  physical  and  mental 
condition,  to  attend  school  while  it  is  in  session. 

The  need  of  protection  from  fire  has  caused  legislation  re- 
quiring factories  and  large  buildings,  used  either  as  tenements 
or  for  work-rooms,  to  be  provided  with  fire-escapes.  Massa- 
chusetts, which  is  dotted  all  over  with  factories,  and  whose 
cities  are  thronged  with  working  people,  has  as  complete  laws 
on  this  subject  as  any  State,  and  much  more  complete  than 
most.  It  has  inspectors  of  factories  and  public  buildings,  who 
may  enter  all  buildings  used  for  public  or  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, examine  the  methods  of  protection  from  accident,  the 
means  of  escape  from  fire,  and  make  investigations  as  to  the 


176  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

employment  of  women  and  children.  The  law  provides  that 
all  factories  and  manufacturing  establishments,  three  or  more 
stories  in  height,  in  which  forty  or  more  persons  are  employed, 
unless  supplied  with  a  sufficient,  number  of  tower  stairways, 
shall  be  supplied  with  sufficient  fire-escapes,  properly  con- 
structed upon  the  outside  thereof,  and  connected  with  the 
interior  by  doors  and  windows,  with  suitable  landings  at 
every  story  above  the  first,  including  the  attic,  if  the  same 
be  used  for  work-rooms.  Cities  may  provide  that  this  pro- 
vision shall  apply  to  all  buildings  three  or  more  stories  in 
height.  Every  building,  three  or  more  stories  in  height,  in 
whole  or  in  part  used,  occupied,  leased  or  rented  for  a  tene- 
ment to  be  occupied  by  more  than  four  families,  or  a  lodging- 
house,  shall  be  provided  with  a  sufficient  means  of  escape  in 
case  of  fire.  Outside  or  inside  doors  of  buildings  where  op- 
eratives are  employed  shall  not  be  locked,  bolted,  or  otherwise 
fastened  during  labor  hours,  to  prevent  free  egress.  Every 
room  above  the  second  story  in  factories  or  work-shops  in 
which  five  or  more  operatives  are  employed,  shall  be  provided 
with  more  than  one  way  of  egress  by  stairways  on  the  in- 
side or  outside  of  the  building,  and  such  stairways  shall  be, 
as  nearly  as  practicable,  at  opposite  ends  of  the  room.  Stair- 
ways on  the  outside  must  connect  with  each  story  by  doors 
or  windows  opening  outwardly,  which  must  at  all  times  be 
kept  clear  of  obstruction.  All  main  doors  must  open  out- 
wardly, and  each  story  must  be  amply  supplied  with  means 
for  extinguishing  fires. 

Other  States  have  provisions  very  similar  to  those  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Connecticut  requires  fire-escapes  to  each  story 
above  the  second  for  buildings  used  for  work-rooms,  factories, 
lodging  or  tenement-houses.  Delaware  says  escapes  must  be 
provided  for  the  third  story  and  those  above.  Illinois  requires 
metallic  fire-escapes  on  all  buildings  of  four  or  more  stories, 
except  exclusively  private  houses.  Maine  provides  that 
every  building  in  which  trade,  manufacture  or  business  is 
carried  on  must  have  fire-escapes  from  each  story  above  the 
ground.  Michigan  requires  suitable  escapes  from  similar 
buildings  over  two  stories  high,  and  New  Jersey  does  for 


SHOPS    MUST    BE    CLEAN    AND    SAFE.  1 77 

such  buildings  \vhere  thirty  or  more  operatives  are  steadily  or 
casually  at  work.  Ohio  compels  convenient  exits  from  the 
upper  stories  of  such  buildings,  easily  accessible  in  case  of 
fire.  Pennsylvania  provides  for  fire-escapes  similar  to  those 
in  States  already  mentioned ;  and  also,  as  an  additional  safe- 
guard, provides  that  in  each  room  in  such  buildings  on  the 
third  or  higher  floor  there  shall  be  a  chain  securely  fastened 
to  at  least  one  window,  not  less  than  ten  feet  long,  to  which 
shall  be  attached  a  rope  not  less  than  an  inch  in  diameter  and 
long  enough  to  reach  the  ground.  These  ropes  and  chains 
are  to  be  kept  in  an  unlocked  box  near  the  inside  sill  of  the 
window.  The  halls  and  head  and  foot  of  the  stair-ways  in 
such  buildings  must  be  lighted  with  a  red  lamp,  and  alarms 
and  gongs  easy  of  access  must  also  be  kept. 

In  some  of  the  States  there  are  laws  requiring  that  suit- 
able seats  shall  be  provided  for  females  in  manufacturing,, 
mechanical  and  mercantile  establishments,  which  they  can 
use  when  not  engaged  in  the  active  duties  of  their  employ- 
ment. Employers  are  required  to  give  due  notice  before  dis- 
charging an  employee.  Railroad  companies  are  forbidden  to 
exact  any  part  of  the  earnings  of  the  employees  for  any  hospi- 
tal, reading-room,  library  or  gymnasium.  Work-shops  must 
be  kept  in  a  cleanly  condition  and  free  from  noxious  effluvia 
from  any  source,  and  must  be  well  lighted  and  ventilated. 
Elevators  and  machinery  must  be  properly  guarded  to  pre- 
vent accident.  The  formation  of  corporations  in  the  interest 
of  trade  and  labor,  for  the  improvement  of  the  social  and  mate- 
rial interest  of  their  members,  is  authorized  and  encouraged. 
Corporations  must  give  thirty  days'  notice  of  a  reduction  of 
wages,  specifying  amount  of  same.  New  Jersey  has  pro- 
hibited employers  from  attempting  to  compel  their  employees 
to  purchase  at  stores  they  may  own.  Ohio  has  a  similar  law. 
New  York  says  operatives  may  assemble  and  use  all  lawful 
means  to  induce  employers  to  pay  a  just  and  fair  compensa- 
tion for  services  rendered.  Pennsylvania  requires  persons 
controlling  coal  mines  to  keep  at  each  mine  a  suitable  ambu- 
lance and  stretchers  to  carry  injured  persons  to  their  homes. 

The  States  in  which  mining  is  a  prominent  industry,  have 

(12) 


1/8  •  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

enacted  laws  to  protect  the  miners  from  accidents  by  fire  and 
otherwise.  Colorado  prohibits  the  employment  of  more  than 
fifteen  workers  in  mines  where  15,000  square  yards  have  been 
excavated,  unless  there  are  two  separate  outlets  to  every  seam, 
separated  by  natural  strata,  not  less  than  one  hundred  feet  in 
breadth,  by  which  distinct  means  of  egress  and  ingress  are 
always  available.  To  all  other  mines  worked  by  shafts,  slopes 
or  drifts,  there  must  be  two  openings  twelve  months  after  15 ,000 
square  yards  are  excavated,  provided  more  than  fifteen  persons 
are  employed.  Communication  with  contiguous  mines  must 
be  constructed  in  connection  with  every  vein  or  stratum  of 
coal  worked.  Metal  tubes  or  telephones  must  be  provided,  so 
that  conversation  may  be  had  all  over  the  mine.  Safety  lamps 
must  be  provided.  The  owner  or  agent  of  a  mine  working 
ten  or  more  men  close  to  an  abandoned  mine  containing  in- 
flammable gas  or  fire-damp,  must  bore  holes  twelve  feet  in 
advance  of  the  coal  face  of  the  working  places.  An  exami- 
nation of  them  must  be  daily  made  and  a  record  kept.  The 
fire-boss  must  make  a  daily  record  of  defects  in  ventilating 
apparatus,  etc.  The  provisions  in  regard  to  hoisting  appa- 
ratus, gang-ways  on  which  cars  are  moved,  ventilation,  etc., 
are  very  complete.  Illinois  provides  that  copper  needles  must 
be  used  in  preparing  blasts,  and  not  less  than  nine  inches  of 
copper  on  iron  bars  used  for  tamping  blasts  of  powder.  In- 
diana requires  an  inspection  each  morning  of  the  wire  ropes 
used  for  lowering  and  hoisting  in  coal-mines,  which  must  be 
of  wire.  When  gas  is  known  to  exist  the  mine  must  be  prop- 
erly examined  each  morning.  Not  more  than  ten  persons  are 
allowed  to  work  in  any  mine  until  a  second  outlet  is  completed. 
Iowa  also  requires  two  outlets  to  all  mines,  and  Kansas  requires 
them  when  more  than  twenty-five  men  are  employed.  Kansas 
also  requires  escapement  shafts  to  be  provided  with  ladders 
securely  fastened  so  as  to  bear  at  least  ten  men,  or  other  safe 
means  for  hoisting  miners  independent  of  the  regular  hoisting 
machinery.  Missouri  has  laws  similar  to  those  of  Colorado, 
as  also  has  New  Mexico.  Ohio  provides  that  all  doors,  to 
assist  in  ventilation  of  mines,  must  shut  of  their  own  accord 
and  not  be  able  to  stand  open.  It  also  requires  morning  in- 


LEGAL    ARBITRATION.  1 79 

spection  of  mines  where  gas  exists,  and  means  of  conversation 
from  top  to  the  bottom.  The  provisions  of  Pennsylvania  are 
very  similar  to  those  already  quoted.  Tennessee  requires 
machinery  in  and  about  mines  and  tops  of  shafts  to  be  prop- 
erly fenced  off.  Most  of  the  mining  States  provide  for 
inspectors,  appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  full  powers  to 
see  that  the  provisions  of  the  laws  are  properly  enforced. 

The  question  of  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  contro- 
versies between  employers  and  employees  has  become  very 
prominent  within  a  few  years.  Several  States  have  already 
taken  action  in  the  matter.  In  the  Legislature  of  New 
Jersey,  of  1880,  provisions  were  made  for  the  arbitration 
of  labor  disputes  before  an  arbitrator  selected  by  employers, 
another  by  employees,  and  a  third  by  the  other  two.  Arbi- 
tration is  voluntary,  but  after  submission  the  award  is  bind- 
ing. Pennsylvania  provides  that  presiding  justices  of  common 
pleas  courts,  upon  petition  or  agreement,  shall  issue  license 
for  the  establishment  of  tribunals  to  settle  disputes  in  iron, 
steel,  glass,  textile  fabrics  and  coal  trades.  Petition  must  be 
signed  by  fifty  workmen  or  five  separate  firms,  individuals  or 
corporations,  within  the  county  of  the  petitioners,  or  by  five  em- 
ployers, each  employing  at  least  ten  men,  or  by  the  represen- 
tatives of  a  firm,  individual  or  corporation  employing  not  less 
than  seventy-five  men,  and  the  agreement  shall  be  signed  by 
both  of  said  specified  numbers  and  persons ;  provided,  that 
if  there  be  a  strike  or  dispute  at  the  time,  and  suspension 
exists,  or  is  probable,  the  judge  shall  require  testimony  as  to 
the  representative  character  of  the  petitioners,  and  if  they  do 
not  represent,  at  least  half  each  party  in  dispute,  license  may 
be  denied.  Workmen  signing  must  be  resident  of  a  judicial 
district  one  year,  engaged  in  the  branch  of  trade  they  repre- 
sent two  years,  and  be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Employ- 
ers signing  must  also  be  citizens  and  engaged  in  some  of  the 
branches  of  business  mentioned  for  one  year,  must  each  em- 
ploy ten  workmen  in  such  branch,  and  each  may  be  a  firm, 
individual  or  corporation.  Petition  must  be  sworn  to  by  at 
least  two  signers.  After  the  arbitrators  on  each  side  have 
chosen  their  umpire,  the  license  may  issue,  fixing  time  and 


l8o  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

place  of  meeting.  One  tribunal  may  be  created  in  each 
judicial  district  for  each  of  the  trades  named,  to  continue  for 
one  year.  The  position  of  umpire  can  only  be  filled  by  the 
mutual  choice  of  all  the  representatives  of  both  employers 
and  workingmen,  and  he  acts  only  after  the  failure  of  the  tri- 
bunal to  agree  in  three  meetings.  His  award  is  final  only 
upon  what  is  submitted  to  him  in  writing  signed  by  all  mem- 
bers of  the  tribunal,  or  by  parties  submitting  the  same,  and 
upon  questions  affecting  the  price  of  labor.  It  shall  in  no 
case  be  binding  upon  either  employer  or  workmen,  save  as 
they  may  acquiesce  or  agree  therein  after  such  award.  The 
tribunal  shall  receive  no  compensation  from  city  or  county, 
but  expenses  may  be  paid  by  voluntary  contributions.  No 
lawyers  or  agents  are  to  appear  on  either  side,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings are  voluntary. 

Iowa  has  a  law  very  similar  to  that  of  Pensylvania,  but  the 
awards  are  conclusive  and  final,  and  when  the  award  is  for 
a  specific  sum  of  money  the  award  may  be  made  a  matter 
of  record  in  the  district  court  of  the  county,  and  the  proper 
court  may  issue  final  and  other  process  to  enforce  the  same. 
Tribunals  must  sit  at  the  county  seats,  but  disputes  in  one 
county  may  be  referred  to  a  tribunal  sitting  in  another. 

The  law  of  Kansas  is  nearly  in  the  exact  words  of  that  of 
Iowa.  It  provides,  however,  that  members  of  the  tribunal 
shall  draw  two  dollars  each  from  the  county  treasury  for  each 
day  of  actual  service.  The  award  of  a  tribunal  may  be  im- 
peached for  fraud,  accident  or  mistake.  Ohio  has  a  law 
closely  similar  to  those  of  the  above  States. 

New  York  provides  for  local  boards  of  five  arbitrators,  two 
to  be  chosen  by  the  employer  and  two  by  the  employees,  they 
to  choose  the  fifth,  who  shall  act  as  chairman.  A  decision  by 
such  a  board  is  final,  unless  an  appeal  is  made  to  the  State 
Board.  This  latter  body  is  appointed  by  the  Governor,  and 
holds  office  for  one  year.  One  member  must  be  taken  from 
each  of  the  two  leading  political  parties  and  the  third  from  a 
bona  fide  labor  organization.  Two  of  the  three  make  a  quo- 
rum to  transact  business,  and  may  hold  meetings  at  any  time 
or  place  in  the  State.  Each  arbitrator  is  entitled  to  a  salary  of 


J.  B. WEAVER  H.B. LOWERING. 


NATIONAL   LABOR    LEGISLATORS. 


THE    DOUGLAS    BILL.  l8l 

$3,000,  payable  quarterly,  while  the  clerk  has  $2,000.  The 
duty  of  the  State  Board  is  to  consider  appeals  from  the  local 
boards,  and  its  decision  is  final  and  conclusive  on  both  parties. 
This  law  was  passed  May  18,  1886,  and  section  9  provides 
that  it  shall  make  a  report  to  the  next  Legislature  of  such 
statements,  facts  and  explanations  as  will  disclose  the  actual 
working  of  the  Board,  and  such  suggestions  as  to  legislation 
that  may  seem  conducive  to  harmonizing  the  relations  of,  and 
disputes  between,  employers  and  the  wage-earning  masses, 
and  the  improvement  of  the  present  system  of  production. 

The  Massachusetts  Legislature  had  much  debate  in  the 
session  of  1886  over  the  question  of  arbitration,  and  finally 
passed  a  measure  known  as  the  Douglas  bill,  because  it  was 
especially  in  charge  of  Senator  W.  L.  Douglas,  of  Brockton, 
who  was  on  the  Committee  on  Labor,  which  reported  the  bill. 
This  provides  that  the  Governor  shall  appoint  one  member  of  a 
State  Board,  who  shall  be  an  employer  or  selected  from  some 
association  representing  employers  of  labor ;  a  second,  who 
shall  be  selected  from  some  labor  organization  and  not  an  em- 
ployer of  labor ;  and  a  third,  who  shall  be  appointed  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  other  two.  If  they  cannot  agree,  how- 
ever, on  this  third  man,  within  thirty  days,  then  he  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor.  This  Board  holds  office  for  one 
year,  or  until  their  successors  are  appointed.  The  decision  of 
the  board  is  to  be  binding  for  six  months,  or  until  either  party 
has  given  the  other  written  notice  of  his  'intention  not  to  be 
bound  by  the  same  at  the  expiration  of  sixty  days  therefrom. 
The  bill  further  provides  for  local  boards  of  arbitration  with 
powers  equal  to  those  of  the  State  Board,  which  may  ask  and 
receive  advice  from  that  Board.  The  pay  of  the  arbitrators  is 
to  be  five  dollars  per  day  for  actual  service,  and  necessary  ex- 
penses, all  to  be  paid  from  the  State  treasury. 

The  provisions  and  scope  of  the  national  law  upon  this 
matter  are  fully  discussed  by  Hon.  J.  J.  O'Neill,  member  of 
Congress  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  chairman  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Labor,  in  his  chapter  on  "Arbitration," 
in  another  part  of  this  book. 

Not  only  have  many  States  created  Bureaus  of  Labor,  but 


l82  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Congress  has  established  (June  27,  1884)  a  National  Bureau, 
of  which  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  of  Boston,  is  the  chief. 
The  State  Bureaus  have  been  established  as  follows  and  in 
the  following  order :  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of 
Labor,  1869 ;  Pennsylvania  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics, 
1872  ;  Connecticut  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1873  (discon- 
tinued 1875,  re-established  1885)  ;  Ohio  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  1877  ;  New  Jersey  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor 
and  Industries,  1878 ;  Missouri  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
and  Inspection,  1879;  Illinois  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1879  '  Indiana  Bureau  of  Statistics  and  Geology,  1879  »  New 
York  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1883  ;  California  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  1883  ;  Michigan  Bureau  of  Labor  and  Indus- 
trial Statistics,  1883  ;  Wisconsin  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
1883  ;  Iowa  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1884  ;  Maryland  Sta- 
tistics of  Labor,  1884 ;  Kansas  Bureau  of  Labor  and  Indus- 
trial Statistics,  1885.  These  bureaus  are  located  at  the 
capitals  of  the  States  named,  and  their  publications  are  be- 
coming widely  known  for  the  valuable  contributions  which 
they  make  to  economic  science  and  literature.  They  are 
bureaus  distinctly  American  in  their  character,  although  some 
of  the  European  governments  are  now  contemplating  the 
establishment  of  kindred  offices. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRINTERS    AND    THEIR    UNIONS. 

FIRST  LOCAL  UNION  IN  AMERICA  —  RULES  FOR  FORMING  NEW  SOCIETIES 

—  DEMANDING    A  GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE  —  THE    NATIONAL 
TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION  FORMED  —  CHARTERING  SUBORDINATE  UNIONS 

—  GENERAL  LAWS  FORMULATED — STRONG  FRATERNAL  FEELING — CON- 
DITIONAL MEMBERSHIP — ANOTHER  NAME  ADOPTED  —  WOMEN'S  TYPO- 
GRAPHICAL UNION  No.  i — PRESSMEN'S  UNION  PERMITTED  —  FEDERA- 
TION   OF    TRADES-UNIONS  —  EXPERIENCE    IN    STRIKES  —  IMPORTANT 
QUESTIONS    THE    UNION    HAS    DISCUSSED  —  SUMMARY    OF    GENERAL 
LAWS  —  SESSIONS  AND  OFFICERS  OF  NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL 
TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNIONS.  • 

THE  International  Typographical  Union  had  its  origin 
in  the  "  National  Convention  of  Journeymen  Printers," 
which  assembled  at  StonealPs  Hotel,  Fulton  Street,  New 
York  City,  on  December  2,  1850.  The  convention  assem- 
bled under  a  call  made  by  printers'  societies  in  New  York, 
Boston  and  Philadelphia,  and  comprised  delegates  from  the 
States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland 
and  Kentucky.  A  permanent  organization  was  effected  by 
the  election  of  John  W.  Perejoy,  of  Maryland,  as  President ; 
George  E.  Greene,  of  Kentucky,  and  M.  C.  Brown,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Vice-Presidents,  and  F.  J.  Ottarson,  of  New 
York,  and  John  Hartman,  of  New  Jersey,  Secretaries.  The 
plan  of  organization  adopted  was  so  well  conceived  and  far- 
reaching  in  its  aims  that  substantially  the  same  course  of 
action  in  respect  of  the  management  of  the  trade  throughout 
the  whole  country  is  paramount  to-day.  How  well  these  pio- 
neer organizers  of  the  printing  trade  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
stable,  well-disciplined  and  intelligent  national  craft  organiza- 
tion can  readily  be  seen  from  an  address  to  the  journeymen 
printers  of  the  United  States,  issued  under  authority  of  the 
first  convention,  in  which  are  set  forth  the  following  guiding 
modes  of  action  in  the  formation  of  societies  :  — 

(183) 


184  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

1st.  An  understanding  in  the  regulation  of  scales  of  prices  in  different 
localities,  so  that  those  in  one  place  may  not  be  permitted  to  become  so  com- 
paratively high  as  to  induce  work  to  be  sent  elsewhere. 

2(1.  The  enforcement  of  the  principle  of  limiting  apprentices,  by  which 
measure  a  too  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  workmen,  too  little  care  in  the 
selection  of  boys  for  the  business,  and  the  employment  of  herds  of  half  men 
at  half  wages,  to  the  detriment  of  good  workmen,  would  be  effectually  pre- 
vented. 

3d.  The  issuing  of  Traveling  Certificates,  by  which  the  distresses  of  brother 
craftsmen,  incurred  in  journeying  from  one  place  to  another  in  search  of  work, 
might  be  relieved. 

4th.  Measures  to  prevent  disgraced  members  of  the  profession  enjoying, 
anywhere  in  the  United  States,  those  privileges  which  belong  exclusively  to 
honorable  printers.  These  consisted  in  keeping  a  registry  of  "rats, "to  be 
sent  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  every  Union  in  the  country  for  reference, 
and  admitting  to  membership  no  stranger  who  did  not  produce  evidence  of 
his  having  been  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the  printing  society  (if  any 
existed)  in  the  place  from  whence  he  came. 

5th.  The  gradual  collection  of  a  sum  of  money  by  each  Union  sufficient  to 
enable  it  to  hold  out  successfully  against  the  employers,  in  the  event  of  a  con- 
tention for  higher  wages. 

The  address,  which  is  generally  conceded  to  have  been 
written  by  Hon.  M.  F.  Conway,  of  Baltimore,  presented  the 
relations  of  capital  and  labor  in  as  clear  a  light  as  any  later 
labor  monograph  on  this  vexed  question,  and  undoubtedly  its 
free  circulation  among  the  craft  in  the  larger  cities  of  this 
country  gave  the  project  of  national  organization  a  successful 
impetus. 

Prominent  among  the  subjects  discussed  at  this  first  session 
was  reform  in  the  public  printing,  and  a  resolution  was  passed 
recommending  Congress  to  withhold  the  government  printing 
from  all  persons  not  practical  printers.  The  agitation  for  the 
establishment  of  a  government  printing  office  through  memo- 
rials and  committees,  and  the  demand  for  the  imposition  by 
Congress  of  a  protective  duty  on  imported  stereotype  plates, 
held  leading  places  in  the  legislation  of  the  national  and  local 
unions,  year  after  year,  until  both  measures  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  Congress. 

The  second  "National  Convention  of  Journeymen  Print- 
ers" assembled  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  on  September  12,  1851, 
and  comprised  delegates  from  seven  States.  J.  L.  Gibbons, 
of  Louisville,  Ky.,  was  elected  President.  A  select  com- 


NATIONAL    TYPOGRAPHICAL,    UNION.  18$ 

tnittee  was  appointed  to  frame  a  constitution  for  the  perma- 
nent organization  of  a  National  Union,  which,  after  slight 
amendment,  was  passed,  and  the  new  organization  took  to 
itself  the  title  of  "THE  NATIONAL,  TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION." 

The  Constitution  was  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the 
convention,  and  afterwards  sent  to  the  several  subordinate 
unions  for  their  ratification,  the  agreement  being  that  when 
unions  in  five  different  States  ratified  the  proposed  Constitu- 
tion, the  Executive  Committee  should  order  the  convening  of 
the  National  Union  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  first  Monday 
in  May,  1852. 

The  subordinate  or  local  unions  were  prompt  to  accept  the 
constitution  and  new  form  of  government,  and  the  first  session 
of  the  National  Typographical  Union  was  held  at  the  above 
place  and  date. 

It  is  noteworthy,  and  indicative  of  keen  foresight  on  the 
part  of  the  founders  of  this  great  labor  union,  that,  first,  they 
soon  cut  loose  from  the  entanglements  of  State  or  district 
unions  in  even  the  classification  of  subordinates  by  arbitrary 
or  geographical  lines,  and  recognized  the  unit  of  organiza- 
tion wherever  found  ;  and,  second,  that  initiation  ceremonies, 
melo-dramatic  oaths,  passwords,  signs,  grips,  etc.,  though 
advocated  by  many  worthy  representatives,  and  repeatedly 
considered  by  the  National  Union,  never  found  a  place  in  the 
national  or  subordinate  constitutions.  The  healthy  growth 
and  life  of  trade  organizations  are  conserved  by  maintaining 
a  wise  mean  between  secret  and  open  sessions.  Free  dis- 
cussion in  meeting-rooms  of  workingmen  has  a  tendency  to 
evolve  measures  and  legislation  able  to  stand  the  test  of  public 
opinion,  when  that  opinion  is  invoked. 

The  issuing  of  charters  by  the  national  body  to  subordinate 
unions  was  commenced  at  this  session.  It  was  found  impos- 
sible to  settle  definitely  the  question  of  seniority  in  respect  of 
date  of  organization  of  several  societies  represented,  and  the 
matter  was  finally  settled  by  drawing  for  numbers,  with  the 
following  result :  Indianapolis,  No.  I  ;  Philadelphia,  2  ;  Cin- 
cinnati, 3  ;  Albany,  4 ;  Columbus,  5  ;  New  York,  6 ;  Pitts- 
burgh, 7  ;  St.  Louis,  8  ;  Buffalo,  9  ;  Louisville,  10 ;  Memphis, 


l86  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ii  ;  Baltimore,  12  ;  Boston,  13  ;  Harrisburg,  14.  The  result 
of  the  drawing  caused  great  dissatisfaction  in  the  older  so- 
cieties ;  Baltimore,  especially,  at  the  succeeding  session  at 
Pittsburgh,  formally  protested  against  her  charter  assignment 
as  No.  12,  claiming  that  the  Baltimore  society  was  organized 
in,  and  had  remained  in  continued  existence  since,  1831.* 

The  Pittsburgh  session  (1853)  was  largely  devoted  to  gen- 
eral legislation ;  important  amendments  to  the  constitution 
were  proposed,  a  body  of  general  laws  was  formulated,  and 
a  minimum  standard  of  type  measurement  adopted. 

No  very  marked  features  in  legislation  or  growth  charac- 
terized the  succeeding  sessions  at  Buffalo,  Memphis,  Philadel- 
phia, New  Orleans,  Chicago,  Boston,  and  Nashville.  At  the 
last-named  (1860)  the  union  adjourned  to  meet  in  New  York 
City,  in  May,  1861  ;  but  before  the  time  of  meeting,  the  great 
Civil  War  had  commenced,  and  it  was  judged  prudent  by  a 
majority  of  the  National  officers  to  postpone  the  session  for 
one  year,  which  was  done,  against  the  earnest  protest  of  the 
president,  who  probably  shared  the  optative  views  of  Secretary 
Seward  as  to  the  duration  of  hostilities.  The  tenth  session, 
however,  was  held  in  New  York  in  May,  1862,  but  no  dele- 
gates from  the  Southern  unions  put  in  an  appearance,  unless 
St.  Louis  might  be  placed  in  that  category.  But  it  would 
seem  that,  whether  spoken  of  love  or  crafthood,  absence  makes 
the  heart  grow  fonder,  because  annually  from  1862  to  1866, 
when  the  absentees  from  the  South  again  answered  roll-call, 
the  national  minutes  contain  expressions  of  hearty  good-wrill, 
which  even  war  could  not  impair,  entertained  by  the  Northern 
Union  printers  toward  their  Southern  brethren. 

At  the  Louisville  session  (1864)  a  "conditional  member- 
ship" measure  was  adopted  in  the  hope  of  drawing  within  the 
scope  of  union  influence  that  class  of  young  men  commonly 
known  as  "country  printers."  Many  strikes  had  been  lost  to 
the  union  cause  by  the  importation  into  cities,  during  trade 
troubles,  of  callow  craftsmen  and  "two-thirders,"  and  the  con- 
ditional enrollment  of  this  class  in  the  union  ranks,  it  was 

*  The  printers  of  Boston,  Mass.,  took  part  in  a  labor  procession  in  1834. — [Eo. 


INTERNATIONAL,    TYPOGRAPHICAL,    UNION.  187 

expected,  would  imbue  them  with  the  spirit  of  unionism  and 
increase  the  number  of  subordinate  unions.  At  the  Memphis 
session  (1867),  President  Oberly  reported  :  "The  conditional 
card  system  has  proved  impracticable,  and  I  therefore  recom- 
mend that  it  be  repealed."  Why  did  so  excellent  a  measure 
fail  of  success?  Because,  like  scores  of  similar  good  meas- 
ures in  the  history  of  all  trades,  it  was  born  before  its  time. 
For  the  past  twenty  years  there  have  existed  conditions  condu- 
cive to  the  successful  adoption  of  a  nine-hour  working  day. 
What  has  been  the  cost  to  workingmen,  in  lost  wages  and  lost 
situations  alone,  of  the  eight-hour  agitation?  There  is  a 
clever  mot  current  among  doctrinaires,  but  which  does  not 
apply  to  the  practical  concerns  of  men,  that  "it  is  well  often  to 
aim  at  the  unattainable,  as  we  thereby  make  attainable  what 
would  otherwise  be  unattainable."  On  the  contrary,  no  meas- 
ure of  labor  reform  can  be  vitalized  in  the  absence  of  con- 
junctive conditions  and  reciprocal  relations.  Strong  unions 
are  slowly  built  up,  step  by  step. 

At  the  Albany  session  (1869)  the  National  Union  became 
"The  International  Typographical  Union,  of  North  America," 
declaring  itself  to  possess  "  original  and  exclusive  jurisdiction 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  fellowship  of  the  craft  in  the 
United  States  and  British  Provinces."  This  extension  of  juris- 
diction was  made  at  the  right  time,  as  immediately  four  unions 
in  Ontario  (Toronto,  Ottawa,  Hamilton  and  London),  one  in 
Quebec  (Montreal),  one  in  New  Brunswick  (St.  John),  and 
one  in  Nova  Scotia  (Halifax),  joined  the  international  organi- 
zation. Another  step  in  the  right  direction  was  taken  at  this 
session,  in  the  chartering  of  Women's  Typographical  Union 
No.  i,  of  New  York  City.  Plans  for  regulating  female  labor 
in  printing  offices  had  been  discussed  at  previou,s  sessions,  but 
no  satisfactory  conclusion  was  reached  until  the  Constitution 
was  amended  to  the  effect  that  "the  subordinate  unions  shall  not 
legislate  against  women  compositors  where  they  conform  to 
the  laws  and  requirements  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union."  This  wise  settlement  of  the  vexed  question  opened 
the  doors  of  local  unions  to  competent  female  compositors 
and  raised  their  labor  to  the  wage  scale  of  male  compositors. 


l88  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Thus  justice  at  last  prevailed  over  custom,  and  the  old  parti- 
tion wall  of  restriction,  dividing  the  labor  of  the  sexes,  was 
demolished,  it  is  hoped  for  all  time,  in  the  printing  craft. 

At  the  Montreal  session  (1873)  the  Constitution  was  so 
amended  as  to  permit  the  formation  of  pressmen's  unions,  and 
two  of  them  (Washington  and  Detroit)  were  organized  dur- 
ing that  year.  These  unions  have  materially  strengthened 
the  craft  in  large  cities,  and  wield  a  power  in  strikes  which 
cannot  well  be  over-estimated. 

It  is  safe  to  assert  that  the  International  Typographical 
Union  is  the  oldest  national  craft-organization  in  the  country, 
gauged  by  the  standard  of  continuous  existence.  Its  consti- 
tution and  rules  of  government  have  served  as  models  for 
other  skilled  labor  unions  ;  and  although  the  Union  has  been 
often  charged  with  "  selfishness  "  and  "  exclusiveness  "  by  sis- 
ter unions,  yet  it  has  generally  given  its  influence  and  aid,  at 
the  proper  time,  to  confederations  of  skilled  labor.  During 
the  existence  of  the  first  National  Labor  Union,  the  union 
printers  were  ably  represented  therein  by  Mr.  Andrew  C. 
Cameron,  of  Chicago,  and  others.  At  the  Washington  ses- 
sion (1879)  tne  corresponding  secretary  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union  was  directed  to  correspond  with  the 
different  "  International  Labor  Unions  of  North  America  "  on 
the  subject  of  uniting  the  trades-unions  more  closely  for  mu- 
tual defence  and  support.  Notwithstanding  many  discourage- 
ments, the  first  convention  was  held  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  in 
August,  1881,  which  adjourned  to  meet  in  Pittsburgh,  Nov. 
I5th,  when  one  hundred  and  seven  delegates,  representing 
fourteen  States,  assembled  and  perfected  the  organization 
known  as  "  The  Federation  of  Organized  Trades  and  Labor 
Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada."  The  platform  of 
the  Federation  is  broad,  liberal,  practical,  and  modern ;  de- 
manding the  passage  of  laws  for  the  incorporation  of  trades- 
unions  and  similar  labor  organizations  (one  was  passed  by 
the  Forty-ninth  Congress)  ;  advocating  State  legislation  en- 
forcing the  education  of  children,  favoring  the  passage  of 
laws  forbidding  the  employment  of  children  under  fourteen 
years  of  age,  demanding  the  enactment  of  uniform  appren- 


PRINTERS'  STRIKES.  189 

tice  laws,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  national  eight-hour 
law,  urging  the  repeal  of  laws  providing  for  the  employ- 
ment of  convicts  under  the  contract  system,  favoring  the 
passage  of  laws  to  secure  the  mechanic  the  first  lien  upon 
the  product  of  his  labor,  demanding  the  repeal  of  "  conspir- 
acy laws"  as  applied  to  organized  labor,  calling  for  national 
legislation  to  prevent  the  importation  of  foreign  laborers  under 
contract,  etc.  As  the  International  Union  proudly  claims  the 
paternity  of  this  important  organization,  and  its  delegates 
have  thus  far  held  prominent  place  in  its  management  and 
legislation,  the  slur  of  "craft  exclusiveness "  may  as  well  be 
dropped  by  some  sister  unions. 

In  the  matter  of  strikes,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  skilled 
mechanics  in  this  country  have  passed  through  such  trying 
experiences  as  the  union  printers.  The  business  history  of 
nearly  every  prominent  newspaper  and  jobbing  establishment 
has  its  "strike"  paragraph  or  page.  The  list  of  surrendered 
charters  on  the  records  of  the  International  Union  only  shows 
the  total  wrecking  of  subordinate  unions  ;  it  does  not  indicate 
the  great  number  of  crippling  compromises,  abortive  arbitra- 
tions, and  unsuccessful  local  strikes,  which  have  marked  the 
history  of  the  printing  trade  for  the  past  thirty  years.  And 
these  results  are  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  consider  that 
this  organization,  composed  of  a  remarkably  intelligent  and 
independent  membership, -has  been  the  pioneer  in  testing  and 
enforcing  "  usages  and  customs "  in  trade-unionism  which 
were  neither  congenerous  to,  nor  appreciated  by,  other  trades. 
It  has  not  alone  been  a  series  of  struggles  between  capital 
and  labor,  about  wage-scales  and  hours  of  work,  but  the  jus- 
tice or  injustice  of  craft  privileges  has  held  a  prominent  place 
in  disputes  between  employers  and  employees.  And  in  these 
contentions  the  union  printers  have  almost  uniformly  found 
the  whole  power  of  the  press  arrayed  against  them  ;  but,  even 
against  such  great  odds,  "  the  men  of  the  stick "  have  kept 
their  place  in  the  front  rank  of  skilled  labor,  and  are  deserv- 
edly proud  of  the  acknowledged  strength  and  pre-eminence 
of  their  national  organization. 

Among  the  general  laws  governing  subordinate  unions,  is 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  following  section  on  strikes,  which  shows  the  advanced 
position  held  by  the  craft  on  this  troublesome  question  :  — 

The  International  Union  regards  the  result  of  strikes  as  inexpedient,  except 
where  the  rules  or  principles  of  the  International  or  of  a  subordinate  union 
may  have  been  violated.  Recognizing  strikes  as  detrimental  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  craft,  it  directs  subordinate  unions  not  to  order  a  strike  until  every 
possible  effort  has  been  made  to  settle  the  difficulty  by  arbitration. 

The  preceding  pages  present  sorne  of  the  prominent  fea- 
tures in  the  historical  background  of  the  International  Union. 
During  the  thirty-six  years  of  its  existence,  scores  of  import- 
ant craft  questions  have  been  discussed  at  the  annual  sessions, 
such  as  Sunday  work,  establishment  of  a  home  for  superan- 
nuated printers,  status  of  subordinate  unions  in  relation  to  the 
national  body,  uniform  constitution  for  subordinate  unions, 
territorial  jurisdiction  of  unions,  and  the  international  (strike) 
fund. 

The  general  laws  of  the  organization  have  long  been  con- 
sidered as  models  in  their  way  and  have  proved  to  be  capable 
of  the  preservation  and  promotion  of  the  interest  of  this  great 
trades-union.  These  are  summarized  in  the  extracts  from  the 
first  general  address  quoted  in  the  opening  of  this  chapter. 
Among  other  things,  the  general  laws  provide  that  no  sub- 
ordinate union  shall  admit  a  person  who  has  worked  at  the 
trade  for  less  than  five  years,  or  who  is  under  twenty  years  of 
age.  These  general  laws  also  favor  admitting  employers  to 
membership,  when  practical  printers,  if  they  so  desire.  One 
of  the  most  interesting  provisions  of  the  general  laws  is  the 
following  :  — 

Subordinate  unions,  foremen  of  offices,  and  chapels,  shall  make  no  distinc- 
tion on  account  of  sex  in  persons  holding  International  Traveling  Cards. 
Female  compositors  holding  such  cards  are  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and 
benefits  conferred  by  them,  and  subordinate  unions  must  recognize  that  fact. 
Subordinate  unions  cannot  refuse  women  admission  on  account  of  sex. 


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CHAPTER  VIII. 

SHOEMAKERS  IN  THE  MOVEMENT. 

"  Oh !  Workers  of  the  old  time,  styled 

The  gentle  craft  of  leather! 
Young  brothers  of  the  ancient  guild, 

Stand  forth  once  more  together ! 
Call  out  again  your  long  array, 

In  the  olden  merry  manner ; 
Once  more,  on  gay  St.  Crispin's  day, 

Fling  out  your  blazoned  banner !  " 

—  Whit  tier. 
\ 

HAND  WORK  IN  THE  OLDEN  TIME  —  THE  LITTLE  SHOP  —  ITS  EDUCATIONAL- 
INFLUENCE  —  THE  NEWSPAPER  AND  THE  DEBATE  —  COUNTRY  WORK — • 
MACHINERY  AND  CHANGES  WROUGHT  BY  IT  —  ORGANIZATIONS  —  THE 
CRISPINS  —  THEIR  FOUNDER  —  GROWTH  OF  THE  ORDER  —  DECADENCE 
AND  MORAL  —  L ASTERS'  PROTECTIVE  UNION  —  METHODS  AND  PRINCI- 
PLES—  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  —  LARGE  SUPPORT  FROM  SHOEMAKERS 
—  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WAR  —  LYNN  IN  1860 — BROCKTON  AND  THE  "42." 

THE  keen-witted  cobbler  who  made  holiday  in  Roman 
streets  to  see  and  rejoice  in  Caesar's  triumph,  and  whose 
sharp  retorts  so  ruffled  the  sensitive  nerves  of  Tribune  Marul- 
lus,  was  the  fitting  representative  of  his  craft.  A  "  cobbler's 
wit"  has  long  been  famed;  and  Shakespeare  but  used  the 
proverbial  aptness  of  the  shoemaker's  tongue  to  spice  the 
opening  scene  of  the  great  Roman  tragedy.  The  tradi- 
tions of  the  craft  have  been  well  preserved ;  and  while  the 
shoemaker  of  the  nineteenth  century  no  longer  universally 
"  sticks  to  his  last,"  yet  the  old-time  front  rank  of  compara- 
tive intelligence  has  ever  been  maintained  by  the  trade  as  a 
whole. 

The  history  of  organized  labor  would  be  really  incomplete 
if  the  part  played  by  the  workers-  in  "  the  gentle  craft  of 
leather"  was  to  be  omitted.  The  cobbler  in  the  streets  of 
Rome,  the  guild  brother  in  the  middle  ages,  the  early  New 

(192) 


THE    SHOEMAKER    OF    ESSEX.  193 

England  hand-worker  in  the  little  shop,  and  the  operative  of 
to-day,  who  guides  an  ingenious  machine  in  the  big  factory, 
have  all  left  their  imprint  on  the  era  in  which  they  lived. 

The  leather  industry  is  a  typical  one  in  its  development 
from  the  hand  to  machine  labor ;  but  the  shoe  factory  has 
been  far  less  potent  than  the  cotton  factory  as  yet,  in  crush- 
ing out  the  individuality  of  the  people  employed  in  it.  This 
is  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  —  among  them  the  comparatively 
recent  introduction  of  machinery,  and  superior  organization 
among  shoemakers. 

The  labor  question  exists  in  this  industry  in  all  its  force. 
Here  we  find  the  sharp  competition  among  manufactures  for 
the  market,  and  the  still  sharper  competition  among  the  oper- 
ators for  work.  This  condition  of  the  latter  is  interrupted  by 
the  constant  introduction  of  new  labor-saving  and  profit-mak- 
ing machinery,  and  the  consequently  increased  facility  with 
which  comparatively  unskilled  labor  may  be  utilized  in  the 
production  of  shoes.  In  addition  to  these  drawbacks,  shared 
in  common  with  most  of  the  makers  of  staple  commodities, 
the  shoemaker  meets  with  difficulties  peculiar  to  the  craft. 
Among  these  may  be  classed  the  "  farmer  and  fisherman 
shoemaker,"  hard  to  enroll  in  the  ranks  of  labor  organiza- 
tion, and  oftentimes  a  serious  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of 
the  union  of  labor  societies  in  their  efforts  to  control  the  labor 
market. 

To  fully  comprehend  the  work  done  by  shoemakers  in 
organization,  in  the  face  of  these  obstacles,  it  may  be  well  to 
glance  at  the  development  of  the  trade  itself. 

In  1634  Philip  Kirtland  established  a  shoemaking  shop  in 
Lynn.  Kirtland  Street,  in  the  west  end  of  that  city,  is  named 
after  him.  The  trade  was  not  firmly  established  until  nearly 
a  century  and  a  quarter  later,  in  1750,  when  John  Adam 
Dagyr,  the  "  celebrated  shoemaker  of  Essex,"  went  to  Lynn, 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  modern  trade.  Dagyr  was  a  Welsh- 
man, and  became  successful  and  famous,  although  he  met 
with  reverses,  and  finally  died  a  pauper.  During  the  first 
half  of  the  present  century,  New  England  was,  even  more 
than  at  present,  the  abiding  place  of  the  shoemaker.  As 

(13) 


194  THE    I..ABOR    MOVEMENT. 

early  as  1812  wagon  loads  of  boots  and  shoes  were  sent  from 
Lynn  and  Haverhill  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  These 
shoes  were  "hand-welts."  The  manufacturers  cut  the  stock 
and  then  gave  it  out  to  be  made  up  in  the  little  country  shops. 
With  the  coming  of  canals  and  railroads,  furnishing  the  man- 
ufacturer with  means  of  transportation  for  the  product  of  his 
factory,  the  industry  rapidly  developed. 

Previous  to  1857  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  country 
shoemakers  stitched  the  uppers  at  their  homes.  It  was  hard 
and  toilsome  labor,  but  labor  surrounded  by  far  different  influ- 
ences from  those  which  help  to  mould  those  employed  in  mak- 
ing shoes.  It  should  be  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  date 
of  the  organization  of  shoemakers  is  nearly  identical  with  that 
of  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system  ;  that  most  of  the 
legislation,  statutory  or  to  be  enforced  by  wage-workers, 
aimed  at  by  these  organizations,  relates  to  abnormal  social 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  use  of  machines,  and  that 
possibly  the  source  of  the  unrest  and  sense  of  injustice  so 
largely  permeating  the  wage  class  of  to-day  is  due  as  much 
to  the  inequitable  division  of  the  benefits  of  machinery,  as  to 
any  other  one  reason. 

With  the  machine,  in  the  abstract,  the  labor  reformer  can 
have  no  contest.  The  futility  of  opposing  the  forces  making 
toward  larger  industrial  development  is  clearly  seen  by  him. 
His  utmost  restrictive  effort  is  to  prevent  sudden  and  radical 
changes  with  consequent  displacement  of  labor  and  attendant 
suffering.  The  demand  of  the  labor  organization  is,  how- 
ever, that  the  machine  shall  be  the  servant  of  the  producing 
masses  as  well  as  of  the  consuming ;  that  its  benefits  shall  be 
as  great  to  the  man  who  runs  as  to  the  man  who  owns  it ; 
that  the  leisure  it  creates  accrue  to  mechanic  as  well  as  mil- 
lionaire ;  that  the  child  and  mother  be  not  taken  from  the 
home  to  operate  it  while  the  father  is  made  a  truant ;  in  short 
that  it  be  subordinated  not  alone  to  the  greed  of  gain  and 
desire  for  cheapness  of  production  among  capitalists,  but  to 
the  needs,  wants  and  general  advancement  of  the  working 
people.  Before  machinery  made  necessary  the  massing  of 
large  numbers  of  operatives  in  one  factory,  it  is  perhaps  not 


THE    M  KAY    STITCHER.  195 

too  much  to  say  that  almost  every  New  England  shoe  shop 
•was  a  lyceum.  Not  so  romantic,  possibly,  as  the  academic 
groves  where  the  Grecian  seekers  after  truth  gathered  about 
the  old-time  philosophers,  but  quite  in  harmony  with  that 
Yankee  combination  of  utility  with  a  keen  spirit  of  inquiry  into 
all  things  mundane  and  celestial.  In  the  little  shops  of  Lynn, 
Haverhill,  Milford  and  other  shoe  centres,  it  was  a  common 
thing  for  the  workmen  to  hire  a  boy  to  read  to  them  while 
they  were  at  work,  the  contents  of  the  last  newspaper ; 
questions  public,  philosophic  and  theoretical,  were  discussed 
with  zest  and  acumen  amid  uninterrupted  tasks.  It  may  be 
noted  that  in  Tchernychewsky's  "What's  to  be  Done,"  the  Rus- 
sian reformer  describes  this  method  of  education  as  prevailing 
in  the  modern  co-operative  shops  directed  by  the  heroine, 
Vera  Parlovnu.  To  this  custom  of  daily  reading  and  discus- 
sions may  doubtless  be  credited  the  many  graduates  from 
the  shoemaker's  bench  to  positions  of  public  trust.  It  was 
about  this  date  that  the  Singer  sewing  machine  was  intro- 
duced. In  1859  Blake  brought  out  his  sole-sewing  machine. 
This  was  remodeled  and  improved  by  Gordon  McKay,  a 
Lawrence  mechanic,  and  the  result  was  the  McKay  stitcher, 
which  completely  revolutionized  one  branch  of  the  manufact- 
ure of  shoes.  Previous  to  the  invention  of  this  machine,  all 
the  medium  and  low-priced  shoes  were  pegged,  this  mode 
of  fastening  the  sole  to  the  upper  being  cheaper  than  the  two 
seams  necessary  in  the  welted  shoe.  The  McKay  stitcher 
superseded  the  hand-welt  and  turned  process,  and  the  large 
manufactory  superseded  the  small  shops  of  the  hand-worker. 
Soon  after  this  came  the  pegging  machine;  then  heel  trim- 
mers and  burnishers,  edge-trimmers  and  setters,  bottom-fin- 
ishers and  buffers,  heel  crimpers,  polishers,  button  fasteners, 
and  scores  of  other  machines  followed  in  quick  and  bewilder- 
ing profusion.  By  1870  the  present  factory  system  was  well 
developed. 

It  is  neither  within  the  scope  nor  province  of  this  chapter 
to  treat  of  .the  effects  —  physiological,  pathological  and  socio- 
logical—  of  the  introduction  of  machinery  upon  those  im- 
proved mechanisms  of  production.  We  may,  perhaps,  be 


196  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

pardoned  a  memory  of  regret  for  that  time  when  the  man 
was  more  than  a  tender  to  the  machine,  and  the  military  rule 
of  our  present  industrial  system  did  not  oppose  a  perpetual 
menace  to  the  individuality  of  the  operative. 

The  training  given  its  members  by  the  Sons  of  St.  Crispin 
made  them  available  material  for  the  Knights  of  Labor,  in 
which  society  the  shoemakers  have  long  taken  an  active  inter- 
est. This  is  especially  true  of  New  England,  where,  until  the 
early  part  of  1884,  by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  the 
strength  of  the  Order  consisted  of  shoemakers,  and  even  at 
present  nearly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  members  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor  in  Massachusetts,  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  are 
of  the  same  craft.  This  being  the  case,  the  history  of  the 
shoemakers  in  the  Knights  of  Labor  would,  so  far  as  New 
England  is  concerned,  be  the  history  of  the  Order  itself,  which 
is  told  in  detail  elsewhere.  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Rochester, 
Detroit,  Philadelphia,  and  the  shoe  towns  of  Massachusetts, 
had  local  assemblies  of  the  society  early  formed. 

The  peculiar  nature  of  the  shoe  industry,  with  its  many 
branches  of  labor,  formed  an  excellent  field  for  the  practical 
test  of  some  of  the  principles  of  the  K.  of  L.  In  no  other 
trade,  perhaps,  has  arbitration,  in  this  country,  at  least,  been 
so  thoroughly  tried,  and  in  no  other  trade  has  it,  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  case,  been  so  successful.  The  present 
system  of  shoemaking  may  be  compared  to  a  complicated 
and  delicately  organized  machine,  which  must  be  kept  in 
good  running  order,  and  in  which  frictions  between  the  parts 
must  be  abolished  as  much  as  possible.  While  arbitration 
has  not  proved  an  infallible  lubricating  oil,  yet  it  has  modi- 
fied many  of  the  lesser  and  some  of  the  graver  complications 
arising  between  employer  and  employee  in  the  shoe  trade. 
This  has  been  notably  the  case  when  the  proper  machinery 
for  arbitration  has  been  created.  In  Philadelphia  the  "Joint 
Board  of  Arbitration"  brought  into  being  the  famous  "Phila- 
delphia Rules,"  which  have  been  adopted  in  some  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  which  are  referred  to  elsewhere  in 
this  chapter.  In  Lynn  and  Beverly  a  "Municipal  Board" 
serves  to  form  a  channel  for  arbitration  ;  in  Brockton  a  "Joint 


SHOEMAKERS    IN    THE    K.    OF    L. 

Council"  and  in  Haverhill  a  "Joint  Board  of  Arbitration" 
serve  the  same  purpose. 

The  system  of  organization  obtaining  in  the  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  has  also  been  advantageous  to  its  growth 
among  shoemakers.  It  was  comparatively  an  easy  matter 
for  the  trade  society  to  organize  the  cities,  but  difficult  to  get 
a  hold  on  the  country.  The  local  assembly  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor  overcame  this  difficulty  by  enrolling  men  of  all 
trades  in  one  branch,  where  necessary,  and  developed  its 
greatest  strength  at  first  in  New  England  in  the  shoemaking 
villages,  towns,  and  smaller  cities.  Marblehead  (L.  A.  500) 
had  the  honor  of  the  parent  assembly,  and  Lynn,  Wey- 
mouth,  West  Quincy,  Newburyport,  Natick,  Milford,  and 
Stoneham  are  near  the  head  of  the  list  as  to  priority  of  or- 
ganization. Every  District  Master  Workman  of  District 
Assembly  30  has  been  a  shoemaker  at  some  time  of  his  life, 
and  most  of  its  executive  officers  are  to-day  of  the  same 
trade. 

Two  distinctively  trade  districts  of  the  Knights  of  Labor 
exist  at  present,  —  one  in  Philadelphia  (No.  70) ,  an  offshoot 
of  District  Assembly  No.  i,  and  one  in  New  York,  No.  91. 
New  England  shoemakers  have  had  the  formation  of  a  trade 
district  under  consideration  for  some  time,  but  have,  from  one 
cause  or  another,  postponed  its  construction. 

It  is  as  yet  a  question  among  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and 
one  in  which  the  shoemakers  take  an  active  interest,  as  to 
whether  the  purposes  of  the  organization  can  be  best  sub- 
served by  the  system  of  trade  or  mixed  districts.  It  is  claimed 
by  advocates  of  the  former  system  that  celerity  in  the  doing 
of  business,  economy,  and  greater  power  can  be  obtained  by 
first  organizing  a  trade  by  itself,  and  then  amalgamating  in 
the  general  body  ;  while  the  supporters  of  the  latter  proposi- 
tion assert  that  the  trade  interest  should  always  be  kept  sub- 
ordinate to  the  general  welfare,  and  that  this  can  only  be 
done  by  organizing  mixed  local  assemblies.  Upon  the  final 
decision  of  this  question  will  largely  depend  the  line  upon 
which  future  organization  of  the  shoemakers  of  the  country 
will  advance. 


198  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Labor  organizations  among  shoemakers  may  practically  be 
embraced  under  three  heads  —  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  the 
Lasters'  Protective  Union,  and  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Other 
organizations  of  a  temporary  nature  have  existed  in  the  trade, 
and  there  are  at  present  local  unions  of  edge-setters,  trimmers, 
cutters,  etc.,  here  and  there.  These  latter  societies  are  merg- 
ing, one  by  one,  into  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  eventually 
\\ill  doubtless  become  a  part  of  that  organization.  While  the 
local  unions  may  serve  a  temporary  useful  purpose,  yet  the 
lesson  of  the  labor  organizations  of  the  past  seems  to  be 
plainly  that  in  the  age  of  collective  capital  there  must  be  a 
larger  co-operation  among  the  wage-workers  than  the  isolated 
local  union  is  able  to  give. 

Of  the  distinctive  shoemakers'  organizations  of  America 
that  of  the  "Knights  of  St.  Crispin"  must  be  accorded  foremost 
mention.  The  history  of  the  growth  and  disintegration  of  this 
Order  makes  an  interesting  and  instructive  chapter.  Here 
was  a  powerful  combination  of  intelligent  men,  extending 
over  the  country  and  numbering  at  one  time  many  thousand 
members,  practising  the  virtues  of  arbitration  and -co-opera- 
tion, electing  its  representatives  by  scores  to  the  Legislatures, 
yet  without  cohesive  power  enough  to  hold  together  to  accom- 
plish the  purposes  for  which  it  was  formed. 

The  Order  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  like  that  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  was  formulated  mainly  by  one  man. 
Newell  Daniels,  a  boot-treer  of  Milford,  Mass.,  in  1864,  first 
conceived  the  main  points  of  that  organization,  drafting  a 
crude  constitution,  and  talking  the  idea  over  with  some  of  his 
fellow-workmen.  Daniels  went  West  before  his  proposed  so- 
ciety had  taken  definite  shape  in  Milford.  He  finally  located 
in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  it  was  not  until  the  first  of  March, 
1867,  that  his  long-contemplated  scheme  took  definite  shape 
in  a  working  lodge  of  Crispins.  The  seven  founders  of  the 
original  lodge  in  Milwaukee  were:  Newell  Daniels,  S.  ; 
Samuel  Wilson,  S.  K.  ;  W.  C.  Haynes,  K.  ;  Albert  Jenkins, 
I.  S.  ;  Thomas  Houren,  O.  S.  ;  F.  W.  Wallace,  Usher;  and 
Henry  Palmer.  Wallace  gave  the  Order  its  name,  in  honor 
of  the  patron-saint  of  the  shoemakers,  and  a  ritual  had  been 


GRAND    LODGE    OF    ST.    CRISPIN.  199 

prepared  by  Daniels,  which  was  accepted  after  some  modifi- 
cation by  a  committee  of  three,  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

The  German  Custom  Shoemakers'  Union,  of  Milwaukee, 
soon  after  this  adopted  this  Crispin  plan  of  organization,  and 
became  Lodge  No.  2.  The  Shoemakers' Union,  of  Chicago, 
was  visited  by  Daniels  in  April,  but  did  not  at  that  time  accept 
his  invitation  to  join  the  Crispins.  A  circular  was  drafted  by 
Daniels,  setting  forth  the  plans  of  the  Order,  and,  to  use  his 
own  words,  "  sent  to  every  place  where  we  knew  there  was 
a  shoemaker."  Responses  were  received  from  various  parts 
of  the  country,  and  in  September  Daniels  was  sent  East  to 
propagate  Crispin  principles,  and  to  organize  societies  where 
possible.  Lodges  were  formed  by  him  in  Oswego,  N.  Y., 
and  in  Hopkinton,  Milford  and  Stoughton,  Mass.  Chicago 
was  the  next  place  to  fall  into  line,  and  the  Knights  of  St. 
Crispin  may  be  said  to  have  fairly  taken  root.  In  January, 
1868,  charters  were  issued  and  a  remodeled  constitution 
printed,  the  preamble  of  which  was  written  by  Martin  Gavin, 
the  former  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Chicago  Shoe- 
makers' Union,  who  had  removed  to  Milwaukee  and  become 
a  member  of  the  senior  lodge  there.  Local  lodges  were  now 
formed  quite  rapidly.  Stoneham,  Natick,  West  Medway, 
Woburn,  Worcester,  Upton,  Spencer,  Danvers,  Boston  and 
Webster  were  among  the  first  towns  in  Massachusetts  to 
next  organize. 

The  first  Grand  Lodge  meeting  was  held  in  Rochester, 
in  1868,  about  sixty  charters  having  been  issued.  Martin 
Gavin  was  chosen  as  the  first  presiding  officer  over  the 
Grand  Lodge. 

The  preamble  of  the  constitution,  as  finally  adopted,  was 
as  follows  :  — 

The  objects  of  this  organization  are  to  protect  its  members  from  injurious 
competition,  and  secure  thorough  unity  of  action  among  all  workers  on  boots 
or  shoes  in  every  section  of  the  country;  claiming,  as  we  do,  that  labor  is 
capital,  and  the  only  capital  that  possesses  power  to  reproduce  itself,  or,  in 
other  words,  to  create  capital ;  that  labor  is  the  interest  underlying  every  other 
interest,  and  therefore  is  entitled  to,  and  should  receive  from,  society  and  gov- 
ernment protection  and  encouragement. 

Recognizing  the  right  of  the  manufacturer  or  capitalist  to  control  his  capi- 
tal, we  also  claim  and  shall  exercise  the  right  to  control  our  labor,  and  to  be 


2OO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

consulted  in  determining  the  price  paid  for  it, — a  right  hitherto  denied  us; 
and  believe  an  international  organization,  embracing  all  workers  on  boots  or 
shoes  in  the  United  States  and  provinces  of  North  America,  is  the  only  way 
in  which  this  right  can  be  successfully  vindicated. 

We  believe  also  in  co-operation  as  a  proper  and  efficient  remedy  for  many  of 
the  evils  of  the  present  iniquitous  system  of  wages  that  concedes  to  the  laborer 
only  so  much  of  his  own  productions  as  shall  make  comfortable  living  a  bare 
possibility,  and  places  education  and  social  position  beyond  his  reach. 

We  therefore  urge  all  workers  on  boots  and  shoes,  in  every  section  of  the 
country,  to  join  us  in  this  effort  to  secure,  through  the  power  of  organization, 
both  for  ourselves  and  our  children  after  us,  a  steady  demand  and  fair  com- 
pensation for  our  toil,  and  a  position  in  society,  to  which,  as  wealth-producers 
and  loyal  citizens,  we  are  justly  entitled. 

WTe  censure  the  system  of  a  Crispin  making  a  profit  on  the  labor  of  a 
brother  Crispin  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Crispinism. 

The  following  regulation  from  a  subsequent  constitution 
governing  local  lodges  indicates  a  vital  defect  in  the  Knights 
of  St.  Crispin  :  — 

No  member  of  this  Order  shall  teach,  or  aid  in  teaching,  any  part  or  parts 
of  boot  or  shoe-making,  unless  the  lodge  shall  give  permission  by  a  three- 
fourths  vote  of  those  present,  and  voting  when  such  permission  is  first  asked. 
Provided,  this  article  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  a  father  from 
teaching  his  own  son.  Provided,  also,  that  this  article  shall  not  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  hinder  any  member  of  this  organization  from  learning  any  or  all 
parts  of  the  trade. 

For  five  subsequent  years,  after  the  Rochester  session  of 
1868,  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  was  a  power 
in  the  land.  It  made  and  unmade  politicians ;  it  established 
a  monthly  journal ;  it  started  co-operative  stores ;  it  fought, 
often  successfully,  against  threatened  reductions  of  wages  and 
for  better  returns  to  its  members  for  labor  performed  ;  it  grew 
rapidly  in  numbers,  and  became  international  in  its  scope  ;  it 
is  estimated  that  four  hundred  lodges  and  forty  thousand 
members  at  one  time  owed  it  allegiance ;  it  became  the 
undoubted  foremost  trade  organization  of  the  world. 

Among  the  men  prominent  in  its  councils  and  holding  posi- 
tions of  high  executive  trust  and  responsibility,  were  Richard 
Griffiths,  since  General  Worthy  Foreman  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor;  Ralph  Beaumont,  "the  Elmira  shoemaker";  S.  P. 
Cummings,  of  Lynn ;  C.  C.  Mower,  of  Upton ;  James  P. 


FAILURE    OF    THE    CRISPINS.  2OI 

Wright,  of  Baltimore ;  Robert  Schilling,  of  Milwaukee ; 
Nathaniel  Stoddard,  of  Brockton;  Charles  S.  Goodwin,  of 
Haverhill ;  B.  B.  Scully,  of  Lynn,  and  scores  of  others. 

The  reaction  came.  The  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  held  in  Cleveland,  in  June,  1873,  revealed  a  deplora- 
ble spirit  of  discord  and  distrust  existing  in  the  organization. 
The  "  Report  of  the  I.  G.  S.  K."  might  contain  these  words  : 
"Something  has  got  to  be  done,  or  this  order  will  be  a  thing 
of  the  past  from  the  adjournment  of  this  Convention."  The 
Convention  tried  vainly  to  do  this  " something."  It  discussed 
co-operation  and  arbitration,  and  proposed  plans  to  put  these 
principles  into  effect,  but  it  could  find  no  substitutes  for  the 
spirit  of  confidence  and  solidarity  which  had  given  the  order 
its  power  and  prestige.  The  subsequent  twelve  months  wit- 
nessed the  rapid  decay  of  the  society,  and  when  a  few  dele- 
gates assembled  in  Philadelphia,  in  June,  1874,  at  the  seventh 
session  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  as  one  of  them  .told  the  writer, 
they  "  attended  the  funeral  of|the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin." 

Faith  in  the  Crispin  idea  was  not  wholly  extinct,  however, 
and  a  few  men,  headed  by  B.  B.  Scully,  of  Lynn,  went  zeal- 
ously at  work  to  revive  the  organization.  After  a  year's  hard 
work,  in  1875,  they  succeeded  in  getting  it  re-established  in 
some  thirty  shoe  towns  of  Massachusetts,  and  it  was  again 
pvished  westward  as  far  as  Chicago.  In  1877  the  order  in 
Lynn  defeated  an  attempt  of  the  manufacturers  to  impose  an 
"iron-clad"  on  employees.  For  a  time  the  new  departure 
seemed  to  flourish,  but  the  forces  which  had  shattered  the 
original  movement  still  held  powerful,  and  ,the  revival  was 
but  temporary,  and  by  1878  the  order  was  practically  extinct. 

Among  the  causes  alleged  by  old  members  of  the  Order,  as 
responsible  for  the  downfall  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin, 
are  interfering  in  politics,  treachery  of  leaders,  high  salaried 
officers,  etc.  To  the  dispassionate  observer,  it  would  seem 
as  if  a  deeper  reason  exists  for  the  failure. 

The  labor  movement,  in  common  with  all  physical  and 
mental  phenomena,  is  subject  to  the  law  of  evolution.  The 
Crispin  idea  of  establishing  a  monopoly  in  labor  on  shoes, 
had  in  it  inherent  defects,  which  brought  about  its  decline 


202  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

There  was  much  that  was  practical,  much  that  was  good,  in 
the  early  work  of  the  society.  Its  base  was  not  broad  enough 
to  support  the  superstructure,  and  it  consequently  toppled 
over  of  its  own  weight. 

The  Crispins  failed,  not  because  they  were  a  trade  organi- 
zation, but  because,  while  seeking  justice  for  their  own  mem- 
bers, they  failed  to  be  just  to  the  workers  outside  their  fold. 
The  excessive  restrictions  imposed  by  local  lodges  on  their 
members  against  teaching  any  parts  of  boot  or  shoe  making 
to  others,  was  as  untenable  a  position  as  the  "iron-clad"  of 
the  manufacturers. 

In  addition  to  this  especial  weakness  of  the  Knights  of 
St.  Crispin,  the  order  was  afflicted  with  the  usual  bane  of 
labor  societies,  diverse  theories  among  those  enrolled  in  its 
ranks.  In  the  first  flush  of  enthusiasm,  its  progress  was 
rapid.  The  mere  fact  of  organization  conferred  a  benefit. 
After  the  primary  stage  had  been  passed,  and  expectation 
had  ripened  into  performances  more  or  less  disappointing, 
the  Order  branched  out  from  its  original  intent,  and  tried  to 
revolutionize  social  conditions  and  qualities  of  human  nature, 
which  are  susceptible  of  modification  only  after  long  and  per- 
sistent effort.  It  undertook  a  task  beyond  its  strength,  and 
discord,  suspicion  and  jealousy  helped  to  dig  its  grave. 

The  lesson  of  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  is  not 
necessarily  a  dispiriting  one.  From  its  ruins,  other  orders 
have  been  evolved  ;  from  its  mistakes,  wisdom  may  be  gained 
for  the  future.  The  band  of  earnest  men  who  made  sacri- 
fices in  its  behalf  deserve  all  honor  and  praise  as  the  forerun- 
ners of  that  larger  army  which  is  to  carry  the  banner  of  labor 
reform  to  ultimate  victory. 

The  Lasters'  Protective  Union  of  New  England  occupies 
a  unique  position  among  organizations  of  workers  on  shoes. 
In  all  other  divisions  of  the  trade  the  machine  has  materially 
modified  the  condition  of  labor;  but  the  laster,  with  his 
"jack,"  hammer  and  pincers,  is  yet  one  of  the  few  handi- 
craftmen  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Repeated  attempts  have 
been  made  by  cunning  and  inventive  geniuses  to  supplant  the 
lasters  with  the  "iron  idol"  that  never  strikes,  and  is  never- 


LASTERS     PROTECTIVE    UNION.  2OJ 

hungry  or  tired.  Various  degrees  of  success  have  crowned 
their  attempts,  but  a  complete  substitute  for  the  peculiar  skill 
and  judgment  required  to  last  a  shoe  by  hand  has  not  as  yet 
been  found.  The  secret  of  the  difficulty  of  the  problem  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  work  of  fitting  the  upper  to  the  sole  of 
a  shoe  is  not  automatic.  Each  pair  of  shoes,  and  not  infre- 
quently "  rights "  and  "  lefts  "  of  the  same  pair,  require  a 
trifle  of  difference  of  treatment  in  order  to  be  a  perfect  job. 
This  is  caused  by  variation  in  quality  and  condition  of  leather, 
defects  in  work  done  before  the  shoe  reaches  the  laster,  etc. 
To  make  a  machine  which  will  take  account  of  all  these  dis- 
tinctions is  apparently  as  hard  as  to  make  one  which  will 
set  type  correctly,  and  so  the  laster  and  the  compositor  are 
not  yet  driven  from  the  field  of  hand  labor  by  the  all-con- 
quering genii  of  the  machine,  although  the  time  is  doubtless 
near  at  hand  when  the  inevitable  law  of  development  in  the 
world  of  production  will  bring  about  this  result. 

The  success  of  the  Lasters'  Protective  Union  must,  in  a 
large  degree,  be  attributed  to  the  conditions  stated  in  the  fore- 
going paragraph,  as  well  as  to  its  form  of  organization  and 
excellent  administration.  As  shoes  cannot  be  made  without 
lasting,  and  as  lasting  cannot  be  done  without  lasters,  the 
problem  before  the  unions  has  been  a  simpler  one  than  in  di- 
visions of  the  craft  where  the  machine  turns  out  from  fifty  to 
a  hundred  cases  of  shoes  per  day. 

After  the  banner  of  St.  Crispin  had  fallen  and  the  twin  foes 
of  all  labor  societies,  discord  and  apathy,  had  done  their  work 
in  that  once  powerful  Order,  the  shoemakers  of  New  England 
went  back  to  the  old  plan  of  "every  man  for  himself,  and  the 
the  devil  take  the  hindmost."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  his 
Satanic  Majesty  improved  the  opportunity.  The  spirit  of 
competition  among  manufacturers  for  a  market  for  their  shoes 
brought  about  the  inevitable  "bear"  pressure  upon  the  market 
for  labor.  Yearly  reductions  in  wages  in  all  the  shoe-making 
centres  naturally  followed.  The  Order  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  was  practically  unknown  in  New  England,  and  once 
again  by  sad  experience  the  shoemaker  learned  the  lesson 
that  in  an  age  of  associated  industry,  if  he  desired  a  fair 


204  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

return  for  his  labor  he  also  must  associate  himself  with  his 
fellows. 

In  December,  1869,  sixteen  Lynn  lasters  came  together  and 
organized  under  the  name  of  the  "Lasters'  Protective  Union." 
The  lasters  were  among  the  poorest  paid  of  any  of  the  opera- 
tives in  the  shoe  trade,  and  had  been  among  the  first  to  feel 
the  effects  of  the  repeated  reductions.  The  Lynn  Union  was 
successful  in  several  minor  undertakings,  and  the  lasters  in 
other  places  followed  the  example  of  their  Lynn  brethren 
and  also  formed  unions.  A  convention  of  the  various  local 
branches  was  soon  afterwards  held  and  a  constitution  adopted. 
The  subsequent  growth  of  the  Union  in  New  England  has 
been  a  steady  one,  and  on  August  i,  1886,  there  were  in  ex- 
istence fifty-three  branches,  with  an  approximate  membership 
of  ten  thousand  individuals.  The  constitution  of  the  Union 
sets  forth  as  its  objects :  "To  acquire  a  thorough  understand- 
ing of  the  needs  and  requirements  of  each  branch  ;  to  secure 
the  elevation  of  our  labor  and  perpetuation  of  our  organiza- 
tion ;  to  render  necessary  assistance  in  time  of  trouble  to  any 
branch  of  our  organization  which  may  be  engaged  in  striving 
to  maintain  or  better  the  present  condition  of  the  labor  of  its 
members."  This  declaration  is  not  so  ambitious  as  that  of 
some  other  labor  societies.  There  is  no  indication  in  it  of 
an  attempt  to  revolutionize  society  or  to  overturn  the  existing 
order  of  things,  but,  measured  by  the  test  of  real  improvement 
in  the  wages  and  condition  of  its  members,  the  Lasters'  Pro- 
tectve  Union  may  perhaps  claim  that  its  work,  during  the 
period  since  its  formation,  compares  favorably  with  that  of 
any  other  association  of  wage-workers. 

The  various  general  conventions  of  the  unions  have  evolved 
the  following  plan  of  government  as  the  most  practical  and 
effective  in  the  adjustment  of  all  disputes  arising  between 
employers  and  members  of  the  Lasters'  Protective  Union. 
A  general  secretary  is  elected  annually  at  a  salary  of  one 
thousand  dollars  per  year.  This  officer  performs  the  routine 
clerical  work  of  the  general  body,  keeps  the  local  branches 
informed  of  all  difficulties  arising  in  the  trade,  compiles  from 
the  accounts  of  the  local  secretaries  a  statistical  account  of 


VARIOUS    ORGANIZATIONS    OF    SHOEMAKERS.  205 

wages  paid  in  each  locality,  and  in  addition  acts  as  traveling 
executive  officer  of  the  unions  in  all  cases  of  differences  with 
an  employer.  Those  who  are  accustomed  to  regard  the  sala- 
ried offices  of  labor  societies  as  sinecures  may  possibly  ex- 
empt the  general  secretary  of  the  Lasters'  Union  from  the 
list.  The  present  "Pooh  Bah,"  in  the  service  of  the  lasters, 
is  Mr.  Edward  L.  Daley,  of  Lynn,  and  his  conservatism, 
probity,  judgment  and  ability,  are  freely  conceded  by  manu- 
facturers and  men  alike.  The  general  secretary  is  assisted 
in  his  executive  work  by  a  general  advisory  board.  This 
board  is  made  up  of  one  member  from  each  local  branch. 
In  cases  of  dispute  requiring  the  services  of  the  general  ad- 
visory board,  three  members  of  that  board  act,  viz.  :  the 
general  secretary,  the  local  member,  and  the  representative 
of  the  branch  situated  nearest  to  the  locality  of  the  trouble. 
This  provides  for  an  efficient  committee  at  a  small  cost. 

The  Lasters'  Union  adopted  at  the  beginning,  and  has 
maintained  until  the  present  time,  what  may  be  called  an 
energetic  policy ;  that  is,  while  always  practicing  conciliation 
and  giving  the  employer  a  chance  to  arbitrate  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  controversy,  yet  if  other  means  fail,  it  has 
no  scruples  in  using  more  vigorous  methods,  believing  that 
the  control  of  the  labor  market  is  as  essentially  the  province 
of  the  labor  organization,  as  the  control  of  capital  is  of  the 
capitalist.  The  Marblehead  strike  of  1883,  embracing  twelve 
shops,  and  the  Brockton  lockouts  of  1885  and  1886,  are 
among  the  most  notable  contests  in  which  the  union  has 
been  concerned. 

The  question  of  merging  with  the  Knights  of  Labor  has 
several  times  been  considered  by  the  Lasters'  Union  in  their 
conventions,  but  while  many  of  its  members,  probably  the 
majority,  are  Knights  of  Labor,  yet  the  Union,  as  a  whole, 
has  preferred  to  preserve  its  autonomy  as  a  trade  organi- 
zation. 

The  various  organizations  of  shoemakers  have  all  had  their 
Sedans  and  Waterloos,  their  Bunker  Hills  and  Gettysburgs 
on  the  industrial  battlefield.  Never  as  yet  forced  to  the 
starved  submission  of  the  cotton-factory  folk,  shoemakers 


2O6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

have  always  been  ready  to  accept  the  gage  of  battle  in  de- 
fence of  principle.  Organized  and  unorganized,  they  have 
pitted  themselves  against  the  "  passionless  endurance  of  the 
almighty  dollar,"  sometimes  winning  and  sometimes  losing, 
in  that  anomalous  strife  continually  going  on  between  the 
two  factors  of  modern  production.  Many  of  the  memorable 
strikes  of  shoemakers  have  been  for  the  recognition  of  their 
right  to  organize.  And  the  tenacity  with  which  the  employ- 
ing classes  hold  to  assumed  prerogatives,  may  be  noted  in 
the  fact  that  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  contention  for 
this  right  by  labor  organizations,  the  Knights  of  Labor  are 
obliged,  in  1886,  to  fight  again  over  the  same  ground,  and 
even  in  the  old  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to  invoke 
the  entire  strength  of  the  organization  for  the  exercise  of  this 
privilege  by  its  members. 

The  stories  of  these  contests,  their  comedies,  melodramas 
and  tragedies,  would  perhaps  be  as  valuable  to  coming  gen- 
erations as  the  chronicles  of  the  noisier  battle-fields  of  his- 
tory ;  but  our  space  will  permit  detail  in  the  case  of  but  two 
typical  ones,  —  the  Lynn  strike  of  1860,  and  the  Brockton 
strike,  or  lockout,  of  1885. 

Lynn  early  became  the  "city  of  shoes,"  the  farmer  settlers 
of  the  locality  turning  their  attention  to  this  industry.  The 
figures  of  the  trade  for  1859,  while  insignificant  in  compari- 
son with  the  immense  volume  of  shoe  business  transacted  in 
1885,  are  yet  indicative  of  the  fact  that  the  Lynn  of  that  year 
\vas  the  shoe  centre  of  New  England.  There  were  in  ex- 
istence at  that  period  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  small 
manufactories,  with  a  product  of  about  four  million,  five  hun- 
dred thousand  pairs  of  women's  and  children's  shoes.  These 
factories  gave  employment  to  eleven  thousand  persons,  over 
half  of  whom  did  the  most  of  their  work  at  home.  The 
leather  was  first  cut  by  "clickers"  in  the  large  shops.  The 
uppers  were  then  turned  over  to  the  "binders,"  —  female 
workers,  —  who,  at  their  homes,  prepared  them  for  the 
"  cordwainers,"  and  returned  them  to  the  factories.  The 
cordwainers  received  the  uppers  and  soles  from  the  factories 
and  made  them  up. 


THE    LYNN    STRIKE.  2C»7 

Prior  to  1860,  labor  organization  was  almost  totally  un- 
known. The  individual  looked  after  his  interest  as  best  he 
could.  Wages  were  low,  averaging  for  male  labor  not  over 
one  dollar  a  day,  and  the  supply  of  farmers'  sons  who  were 
anxious  to  learn  the  business  was  practically  unlimited. 
Trade  had  not  recovered  from  the  panic  of  1857,  and  the 
winter  of  1859  f°und  many  manufacturers  doing  but  little 
work,  and  privation  visited  the  homes  of  many  of  the  Lynn 
cordwainers. 

A  spirit  of  unrest  and  discontent  was  abroad  all  over  the 
state.  From  Milford,  Natick  and  Marlboro  came  reports  of 
dissatisfaction  with  the  prices  paid  for  labor.  Alonzo  G. 
Draper,  afterward  a  brigadier-general  in  the  Union  army, 
and  at  that  time  editor  of  the  New  England  Mechanic,  for  a 
year  had  advocated  concerted  action  for  increase  in  prices. 
The  discontent  in  Lynn  gradually  took  shape.  Committees 
were  formed,  and  the  question  of  wages  discussed.  On  the 
evening  of  February  3,  1860,  a  great  mass  meeting  was  held 
in  the  old  Lyceum  Hall,  to  consider  whether  a  strike  was 
advisable.  George  P.  Sanderson,  afterward  mayor,  was 
chairman,  and  ad'dresses  were  made  by  Gideon  F.  Howard, 
of  South  Randolph  ;  George  Cahill,  of  Quincy ;  James  Dil- 
lon and  A.  G.  Draper, -of  Lynn.  On  February  8th  a  price- 
list  was  adopted  and  resolutions  were  passed  pledging  those 
present  to  strike  unless  the  list  was  accepted  by  the  manufac- 
turers. At  a  subsequent  meeting,  February  I5th,  in  Lyceum 
Hall,  it  was  voted  that  nearly  twelve  hundred  workmen  were 
ready  to  strike,  and  it  was  determined  to  fix  February  22d  as 
the  date  for  the  beginning  of  the  contest.  Accordingly,  on 
the  morning  of  the  birth-day  of  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
five  thousand  people,  assembled  in  Central  Square,  were  ad- 
dressed by  speakers,  and  then  paraded  through  the  streets. 
The  great  strike  of  1860  had  begun. 

Lynn  has  seen  many  strikes  since  that  date,  but  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  in  none  of  them  has  there  been  a  more  determined 
purpose,  more  unity  of  action,  or  more  exciting  incidents  than 
in  that  of  1860,  of  the  cordwainers.  The  strike  is  further 
interesting,  as  from  it  resulted  the  trades  organization,  which, 


208  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

in  one  form  or  another,  has  since  prevailed  among  the  Sons 
of  St.  Cripin. 

For  seven  weeks,  or  until  April  12,  the  struggle  continued. 
All  the  accompaniments  of  the  modern  strike  were  present, 
while  there  were  several  decidedly  unique  features  peculiar  to 
the  time.  Oratory,  parades,  music,  banners,  etc.,  abounded. 
Candy  pulls,  chopping  bees,  clam  chowders,  furnished  enter- 
tainment to  the  strikers.  Comparatively  little  suffering  is  re- 
corded as  existing  among  the  families  of  the  participants.  The 
turbulent  element  occasionally  cropped  out,  and  a  "scab"  was 
argued  with  by  physical  suasion  until  he  saw  the  folly  of  his 
way.  Express  wagons  carrying  work  into  the  country  were 
overturned  and  the  cases  of  shoes  taken  away. 

On  March  7th  nearly  two  thousand  stitchers  joined  the 
strike  and  a  grand  procession  was  inaugurated.  '  The  Lynn 
Guards,  with  music,  headed  the  column ;  then  came  the 
female  strikers,  with  flags  and  banners,  followed  by  four 
thousand  workmen,  fire  companies,  etc., ;  the  whole  making 
an  imposing  display.  A  heavy  fall  of  snow  commenced,  but 
it  did  not  dampen  the  ardor  of  the  enthusiastic  girls.  Each 
succeeding  day  brought  with  it  some  diversion,  and  the  old 
Lynn  resident  has  a  stock  of  racy  anecdote  as  a  relic  of  the 
period.  The  strikers  were  organized  by  wards,  and  it  was 
customary  to  gather  daily  in  Central  Square,  and  from  thence 
march  wherever  the  business  of  the  day  was  to  be.  One  day 
a  trip  was  made  to  Marblehead.  On  another  a  procession 
marched  to  Salem.  A  clam  chowder  in  Rock's  pasture,  a 
tramp  to  South  Reading  and  Stoneham,  a  "candy  scrape"  and 
dance,  were  among  other  notable  events.  A  favorite  amuse- 
ment of  the  strikers  was  to  escort  the  fresh  converts  to  the 
factories,  while  they  formally  gave  up'  their  jobs.  This 
ceremony  was  always  performed  with  music  and  due  im- 
pressiveness.  An  illustration  of  the  discipline  prevailing 
among  the  militia  of  that  time  may  be  found  in  the  following 
incident :  Colonel  Coffin  ordered  Company  F  to  stand  guard 
to  quell  any  possible  outbreak.  Many  of  the  company  were 
cordwainers,  and  the  organization  voted  to  escort  the  strikers, 
which  it  accordingly  did. 


THE    BROCKTON    STRIKE.  209 

After  the  strike  had  continued  for  five  or  six  weeks,  the 
necessity  for  a  permanent  organization  was  seen.  The 
"Journeymen  Cordwainers'  Association"  was  formed,  and  a 
constitution  and  by-laws  adopted.  On  the  evening  of  April 
1 2th  a  big  mass-meeting  was  held,  and  as  the  result  of  its 
deliberations,  it  was 

ResolvcJ  That  we  now  commit  our  cause,  with  all  its  interests,  into  the 
hands  of  the  organization  known  as  the  Journeymen  Cordwainers'  Associa- 
tion, whose  avowed  objects  are  the  protection  of  labor  and  the  promotion  of 
the  welfare  of  that  great  branch  of  industry  which  has  rendered  the  name  of 
our  city  so  well-known  throughout  the  Union. 

The  outcome  of  the  strike  was  a  compromise  in  the  matter 
of  prices,  and  the  establishment  of  a  union  for  future  use- 
fulness. 

The  "Brockton  strike  "  of  1885  deserves  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice  by  reason  of  its  bearing  upon  the  recognition  of 
certain  principles  contended  for  by  labor  organizations.  Sev- 
eral minor  misunderstandings  having  arising  in  Brockton  dur- 
ing the  autumn  of  1885,  forty-two  of  the  shoe  manufacturers 
of  that  city  associated  themselves  together  to  maintain  the 
untenable  position  that  there  should  properly  be  but  one  party 
to  a  labor  contract,  and  that  party  the  employer.  On  Novem- 
ber 1 2th  the  famous  "forty-two"  issued  a  manifesto  to  the 
lasters  in  their  employ,  stating  that  on  and  after  November 
i6th  the  price  for  lasting  would  be  fixed  at  a  rate  appended- 
In  the  manifesto  was  this  paragraph  :  "  We  believe  in  the 
individual  right  of  all  to  hire  or  discharge  whomsoever  he 
may  choose,  as  well  as  the  workman's  right  to  work  when- 
ever and  wherever  it  is  for  his  interest  so  to  do."  As  a  result: 
of  this  manifesto,  all  members  of  the  Lasters'  Union  were 
ordered  by  that  body,  on  the  I4th,  to  stop  work,  and  two  days 
later  the  finishers  followed  suit.  The  Knights  of  Labor, 
through  their  joint  board,  passed  resolutions  deprecating  the 
action  of  the  manufacturers  in  ignoring  the  labor  organiza- 
tions, and  pledged  the  support  of  the  order  in  assisting  the 
lasters  to  win  that  recognition.  A  committee  of  arbitration 
of  nine  men,  representing  all  the  labor  organizations  of  the 
shoe  trade  in  the  city,  waited  upon  President  Geo.  E.  Keith, 

(14) 


2IO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  the  manufacturers'  association,  and  through  him  requested 
that  association  to  meet  with  them  with  a  view  to  settling  the 
existing  difficulty  by  arbitration.  The  request  was  refused, 
Mr.  Keith  stating  "that  it  was  no  use  to  talk,  as  the  manu- 
facturers had  set  their  prices."  The  committee  withdrew, 
feeling  they  had  done  all  that  was  possible  toward  a  peace- 
ful and  honorable  adjustment.  On  the  Wednesday  following 
(i8th)  the  Executive  Board  of  District  Assembly  30,  Knights 
of  Labor,  also  endeavored  to  obtain  a  conference  with  the 
"  forty-two,"  but  their  communication  was  ignored.  The 
manufacturers  seemed  determined  to  force  the  contest  upon 
the  issue  raised,  and  as  the  surrender  by  the  labor  organiza- 
tions of  the  right  to  be  consulted  at  the  making  of  a  price  list 
would  have  been  the  virtual  surrender  of  their  utility,  there 
seemed  to  be  no  alternative  except  a  trial  of  strength.  Con- 
sequently the  forty-two  shops  were  soon  deserted,  the  amount 
of  their  weekly  pay-roll  of  $71,000  was  withdrawn  from  cir- 
culation, and  5,755  operatives  entered  upon  a  period  of  idle- 
ness. 

To  this  struggle,  there  could  be  but  one  outcome.  Public 
opinion  was  overwhelmingly  on  the  side  of  the  employees, 
and  was  retained  by  them  during  the  weeks  that  followed  by 
the  sobriety,  peacefulness  and  invariable  good  order  pre- 
served by  the  strikers.  There  was  a  total  absence  of  any- 
thing like  physical  intimidation  during  the  continuance  of  the 
trouble,  the  police  record  showed  a  marked  decrease  in  cases 
of  drunkenness,  and  the  whole  course  of  procedure  of  the 
operatives  was  that  of  a  law-abiding,  orderly  community  con- 
tending for  the  recognition  of  a  just  and  important  principle, 
affecting  their  industrial  welware.  One  week  passed  by, 
two  weeks,  and  the  third  was  drawing  to  a  close.  The  ex- 
pected collapse  in  the  labor  ranks  had  not  come.  The  most 
needy  had  been  assisted  from  the  treasuries  of  the  societies 
and  from  individual  sources.  The  outlook  was  not  cheering  ; 
winter  was  rapidly  approaching,  and  the  howl  of  the  hunger- 
wolf  could  be  heard  at  a  distance  by  anxious  parents  watch- 
ing over  little  ones.  On  the  other  hand,  the  plight  of  the 
"forty-two"  was  unenviable.  The  smaller  manufacturers, 


PHILADELPHIA    RULES.  211 

especially,  were  growing  restive.  Machinery  was  standing 
idle,  interest  on  borrowed  capital  was  accumulating,  and 
competitors  were  encroaching  upon  their  markets. 

The  Brockton  manufacturers,  some  forty  in  number,  who 
had  not  joined  the  association,  were  running  their  shops  at 
full  capacity.  To  the  pressure  of  these  circumstances  the 
"  forty-two  "  finally  yielded,  and  on-  November  3oth  voted  to 
place  the  entire  settlement  of  the  trouble  in  the  hands  of  their 
executive  committee.  As  a  result  of  this  step,  the  committee 
invited  the  joint  labor  board  to  confer  with  them,  and  after 
repeated  interviews  "a  set  of  rules  and  regulations  was 
adopted  for  the  government  of  Brockton  factories  and  the 
avoidance  of  future  industrial  warfare.  These  rules  and 
regulations  were  based  upon  the  "Philadelphia  Rules,"  so- 
called  from  their  previous  adoption  and  use  by  the  Philadel- 
phia shoe  manufacturers  and  operatives.  These  rules,  in 
substance,  embodied:  I.  The  right  of  the  manufacturer  to 
employ  and  discharge  help,  qualified  by  the  specification  that 
no  employee  should  be  discharged  because  of  membership  or 
prominence  in  a  labor  society.  2.  The  fixing  of  the  ten-hour 
day  as  the  standard.  3.  The  appointment  of  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  arbitration,  consisting  of  twelve  members,  six  from 
each  side,  with  regulations  to  govern  the  same.  (  4.  This 
committee  was  to  settle  all  difficulties,  and  no  strike  or  lock- 
out was  to  be  entered  into  by  either  party  pending  a  settle- 
ment. 5.  The  referring  of  the  settlement  of  wages  paid  to 
hands  working  by  the  day  or  week  to  the  manufacturer  and 
individual  employee.  6.  The  payment  of  standard  prices  by 
all  members  of  the  association.  This  agreement  was  signed 
on  the  part  of  the  manufacturers  by  George  E.  Keith,  Rob- 
bins  B.  Grover,  Zimri  Thurber,  George  G.  Snow,  George 
Churchill,  and  D.  L.  Weeks.  For  the  labor  organizations  it 
was  signed  by  James  H.  Stillman  and  Jabez  Tabor,  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor;  Edward  Smith  and  M.  J.  Dunn,  for  the 
Lasters'  Union ;  J.  M.  O'Donnell  and  Charles  W.  Turner, 
for  the  Trimmers'  and  Setters'  Union. 

The  first  step  had  been  taken  toward  a  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities, and  the  community  gave  a  sigh  of  relief.  There  was 


212  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

yet  much  to  be  done,  however,  and  the  joint  committee  at 
once  met  (December  nth)  to  agree  upon  a  price-list.  At 
the  first  conference  a  disagreement  arose  as  to  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  lasting,  and  an  adjournment  of  one  week  was  voted 
before  coming  to  any  understanding.  Under  article  nine  of 
the  "rules,"  it  was  provided  that  in  case  of  inability  to  agree 
in  the  joint  board,  each  party  should  appoint  one  representa- 
tive, these  two  the  third,  and  the  three  were  to  be  the  final 
arbitrators.  The  claim  was  made  by  the  lasters  that  the 
"forty-two"  were  trying  to  reduce  prices  for  lasting.  No 
attempt  was  made  by  the  joint  board  to  take  advantage  of 
the  provisions  of  this  article.  A  feeling  of  despondency  once 
more  settled  over  Brockton.  The  law  of  necessity  was 
stronger  than  obstinacy,  however,  and  on  the  i9th  three 
arbitrators  were  agreed  upon.  The  three  men  chosen  were 
Mayor  John  J.  Whipple,  for  the  lasters  ;  Walter  F.  Cleave- 
land,  a  city  water  commissioner  for  the  association,  and 
Charles  C.  Bixby,  as  the  third  member  of  the  triumvirate. 
On  the  evening  of  the  2ist  the  arbitrators  rendered  their 
verdict,  which  was  a  compromise  between  the  price-list  de- 
manded by  the  lasters  and  that  offered  by  the  "  forty-two." 
Shops  were  opened  on  the  following  morning,  and  the  big 
Brockton  strike  was  ended. 

What  was  and  is  the  lesson?  Simply  this,  that  common- 
sense  and  reason  in  the  world  of  industry  are  as  indispen- 
sable as  elsewhere,  that  mutual  concession  and  consideration 
between  manufacturers  and  operatives  is  the  only  solution  of 
"labor  troubles,"  so  long  as  the  wage  system  prevails,  and 
that  when  the  spirit  of  arbitration  is  lacking  on  either  side, 
there  will  be  industrial  war  useless,  bitter  and  unworthy  of 
our  progressive  age. 

The  unfortunate  controversy  and  lockout  occurring  in 
Brockton  in  the  July  following  the  adoption  of  the  "Phila- 
delphia plan  "  but  emphasize  the  fact  that  rules  cannot  take 
the  place  of  mutual  consideration,  and  that  fair  play  between 
employer  and  employee  is  the  essence  of  a  just  settlement  of 
all  difficulties. 

In  the  few  pages  devoted  to  the  organization  among  shoe- 


HIGH    HOPE    OF    DAYS    TO    COME.  213 

makers,  we  have  deemed  it  best  not  to  occupy  space  in 
recounting  trivial  details,  but  rather  to  outline  certain  broad 
phases.  The  "blazoned  banner"  of  St.  Crispin  has  ever  been 
flung  out  at  the  head  of  the  labor  column.  The  organization 
may  come,  and  the  organization  may  go ;  but  we  may  have 
faith  that  the  love  of  right  and  liberty  underlying  all  social  re- 
forms will  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  give  inspiration  to  the 
workmen  in  the  gentle  craft  of  leather.  Crispin,  Unionist, 
Knight  of  Labor,  have  all  had  for  their  ideal  a  better  liveli- 
hood and  larger  possibilities  for  their  members,  and  in  this 
broadening  sweep  and  loftier  trend  of  labor  organizations  lies 
the  high  hope  of  the  days  to  come  and  children  yet  unborn. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

PROGRESS    IN    THE    TEXTILE    TRADES. 

EARLY  ORGANIZATION  IN  1850  —  A  STRIKE  IN  1850 —  SPINNERS  REORGANIZE 
IN  1858  —  PARALYZED  BY  THE  WAR  —  REORGANIZED  IN  1866  —  CON- 
VENTION IN  1868  —  AGITATION  FOR  TEN  HOURS  —  FRUITLESS  STRIKES 

—  THE   UNION   BROKEN   UP  —  REORGANIZED  —  A   TEN-HOUR   LAW  — 
THE  CHOSEN  BATTLE-FIELD  —  OTHER  LABOR  ASSOCIATIONS  FORMED 

—  SUCCESSFUL  STRIKE  —  GREAT  STRIKE  IN  AUGUST,  1875  —  UNCONDI- 
TIONAL  SURRENDER  —  ORGANIZATIONS  BROKEN  UP  —  WEEKLY   PAY- 
MENTS—  A  GLOOMY  PERIOD  —  GEORGE  E.  McNEiLL  TO  THE  RESCUE 

—  REDUCTION   OF   WAGES  IN   1878  —  DEFAULTING   TREASURERS  —  A 
GREAT   DEMONSTRATION  —  ROBERT    HOWARD    CHOSEN    SECRETARY  — 
ARBITRATION  DENIED  —  A  STRIKE  ORDERED — JOHN  KELLY'S  GIFT  — 
THE    INTERNATIONAL   ASSISTS  —  STARVED    INTO    SUBMISSION  —  AN 
ADVANCE  GRANTED  —  MORE  WEEKLY  PAYMENTS  —  ANOTHER  ADVANCE 

—  LEGISLATION  REFUSED  —  STRIKE  AVERTED  —  BLACKLISTING  —  SPOT- 
TERS —  SHORTER   HOURS  —  RHODE    ISLAND   AND   MAINE   VISITED  — 
GLORIOUS   RESULTS  —  HARD   TIMES    AGAIN  —  ANOTHER   STRIKE  — 
AGAIN  DEFEATED  —  BURNING  OF  SAGAMORE  MILL  —  CURTAILING  PRO- 
DUCTION—  ARBITRATION   AND    CONCILIATION  —  GLIMPSES    OF    OTHER 
CONTESTS. 

THE  early  history  of  organization  in  the  textile  trades  of 
the  United  States  can  be  traced  as  far  back  as  1844. 
Strikes  had  occurred  prior  to  that,  and  doubtless  temporary 
associations  were  formed  in  the  thirties,  when  an  agitation 
was  commenced  by  a  small  band  of  earnest  men  in  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  having  for  its  object  a  reduction  in  the  hours 
of  labor.  A  paper  was  started  called  The  Mechanic,  to  ad- 
vocate less  hours  of  labor ;  and  about  this  time,  also,  a  paper 
was  published  in  the  city  of  Lowell  called  the  Voice  of  In- 
dustry, that  contributed  largely  to  the  advance  of  the  move- 
ment. The  factory  operatives  were  then  working  from  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  with 
but  two  half-hours  of  intermission,  one  for  breakfast  and  the 
other  for  dinner,  which  left  the  number  of  working  hours 
thirteen  daily.  These  papers  did  good  service  in  their  own 

(214) 


THE    FIRST    STRIKE. 


215 


peculiar  line  towards  redressing  the  grievances  of  the  opera- 
tives employed  in  the  textile  industries, 

It  was  not  until  1850  that  anything  like  a  thoroughly 
organized  effort  was  made  to  obtain  an  advance  in  wages. 
This  occurred  in  Fall  River,  where  the  spinners  employed 
at  the  Metacomet  Mill  solicited  the  treasurer,  Colonel  Bor- 
den,  to  make  a  certain  alteration  in  their  list  of  prices.  This 
Colonel  Borden  refused  to  do,  and,  pointing  to  the  sides  of  his 
granite  mill,  he  said :  "I  saw  that  mill  built  stone  by  stone  ;  I 
saw  the.  pickers,  the  carding  engines,  the  spinning-mules  and 
the  looms  put  into  it,  one  after  the  other,  and  I  would  see 
every  machine  and  stone  crumble  and  fall  to  the  floor  again 
before  I  would  accede  to, your  wishes."  A  strike  resulted, 
which  lasted  ten  months,  when  the  mills  started  up  again,  but 
much  difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding  competent  help  to 
fill  the  places  of  the  strikers,  many  of  them  having  wandered 
away  and  found  work  elsewhere.  Organizations  have  ex- 
isted chiefly  among  the  spinners  in  the  textile  trade,  and  no 
branch  of  labor  has  received  so  many  hard  knocks,  sustained 
so  many  crushing  defeats,  and  suffered  so  much  as  they  have, 
in  defending  the  rights  and  dignity  of  honest  labor.  It  .has 
been  so  with  them  all  the  world  over ;  ever  since  James  Har- 
greaves,  of  Oswaldtwistle,  England,  invented  the  spinning- 
jenny,  in  the  year  1767,  the  spinners'  troubles  have  been 
going  on.  Spinning,  prior  to  Hargreaves' invention,  used  to 
be  performed  on  the  old-time  spinning-wheel.  The  jenny  was 
so  constructed  that  a  number  of  spindles  could  be  driven  to- 
gether, which  resulted  in  throwing  many  people  out  of 
employment,  causing  great  discontent,  and  leading  to  trou- 
bles of  various  kinds  among  the  operatives.  The  spinning- 
jenny  of  Hargreaves  was  improved  in  1768  by  Richard 
Arkwright,  of  Preston,  who  invented  the  spinning-frame, 
and  by  Crompton,  of  Bolton,  afterwards,  who  invented  the 
spinning-mule.  These  inventions,  combined  with  the  inven- 
tion of  the  power-loom  by  Cartwright,  and  the  steam-engine 
by  Watts,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  factory  system.  Those 
who  h'ave  been  brought  up  in  the  cotton  trade  have  often 
heard  their  fathers  tell,  as  it  had  been  told  them  by  their 


2l6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

fathers  before,  that  the  spinners'  troubles  commenced  with  the 
building  of  factories  for  manufacturing  purposes.  Therefore, 
for  years  after  the  failure  of  the  strike  of  the  spinners  in  1850, 
no  organization  existed  outside  of  that  of  the  Fall  River 
spinners  in  the  textile  trade. 

The  spinners'  organization  of  Fall  River,  with  other  friends 
outside  of  the  trade,  kept  a  running  agitation  going  from  the 
time  of  their  defeat  in  1850,  in  favor  of  reducing  the  hours 
of  labor  to  ten  daily  for  women  and  minors  employed  in  the 
textile  industries.  Their  efforts  proved  unavailing,  owing  to 
the  lack  of  support  from  other  manufacturing  centres.  In 
1858  the  spinners  reorganized  their  union,  with  Patrick 
Carroll  as  president,  and  John  McKeown  as  secretary  ;  and 
immediately  began  an  agitation  for  an  advance  in  wages. 
Meetings  were  held  in  the  fields  or  behind  the  mills,  where 
the  men  thought  they  would  be  secure  from  observation. 
Finally  it  was  agreed  that  a  petition  should  be  sent  to  the 
mill  treasurers,  asking  for  an  advance  in  wages. 

James  Cordinley,  one  of  the  members  of  the  organization, 
invited  them  to  his  house  to  draw  up  the  petition.  When  the 
petition  was  drawn,  another  obstacle  appeared  in  the  way,  as 
no  member  of  the  organization  dared  to  place  his  name  first, 
fearing  that  he  might  be  singled  out  as  a  ringleader,  and  that 
his  name  would  be  put  on  the  blacklist,  which  would  prevent 
him  from  getting  work  again  in  the  city.  Several  of  their 
members  had  been  selected  as  victims  after  the  strike  of 
1850,  and  were  kept  out  of  employment  for  years  after  in 
the  mills  of  Fall  River.  However,  a  woman's  ingenuity 
overcame  the  obstacle,  and  Mrs.  Cordinley  suggested  that 
rings  be  drawn  at  the  foot  of  the  petition,  and  she  furnished 
a  bowl  for  the  purpose,  so  that  all  the  rings  should  be  of 
equal  size,  and  inside  of  these  rings  the  spinners  signed  the 
petition,  requesting  an  advance  of  wages.  The  manufac- 
turers, in  reply  10  the  request  of  the  spinners,  agreed  to  give 
one-third  of  the  advance  asked  for,  which  was  accepted,  and 
the  other  two-thirds  was  obtained  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  The  union  was  almost  dead  during  the  war,  as  most 
of  its  members  had  gone  to  shoulder  the  musket  and  to  fight 


NEW   ENGLAND   LABOR   LEADERS. 


CONVENTION    ir    MAINE.  217 

for  the  maintenance  of  this  Union  of  States,  and  to  strike  the 
shackles  from  the  negro.  The  books  had  been  closed  in 
1861,  and  when  they  were  opened  again,  at  the  beginning  of 
1866,  a  large  number  of  the  old  members  failed  to  respond  to 
the  roll-call.  They  had  been  left  behind  on  the  hard-fought 
battlefields  between  the  Potomac  and  Richmond,  where  they 
had  surrendered  their  lives  for  their  country  and  freedom. 

Shortly  after  the  reorganization  of  the  union  in  1866,  an 
agitation,  which  proved  very  successful,  was  begun  for  ad- 
vancing wages.  Not  only  in  Fall  River,  but  in  Lowell, 
Lawrence,.  New  Bedford,  Lewiston,  Biddeford,  Claremont, 
and  many  other  cotton  districts,  the  wages  were  advanced. 
Print  cloths  in  that  year  were  selling  at  nineteen  and  a  half 
cents  per  yard,  which  at  the  present  time  can  be  bought  at 
three  and  one-fourth  cents  per  yard.  In  the  meantime, 
while  wages  were  being  advanced,  the  members  of  the  union 
never  kept  their  eyes  off  that  most  important  question  of 
reducing  the  hours  of  labor ;  and  to  this  end  an  agitation 
was  started  in  all  the  textile  districts  of  New  England. 
Organizers  were  sent  out  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  shorter 
hours  of  labor,  and  point  out  their  advantages  to  the  great 
army  of  toilers.  These  missionaries  penetrated  nearly  every 
town  and  city  in  New  England,  where  the  busy  hum  of  the 
spindle  or  the  merry  crack  of  the  shuttle  was  to  be  heard, 
resulting  in  a  convention  held  in  Biddeford,  Maine,  in  1868. 
Among  those  present  were  Isaac  Cartnell,  representing  Fall 
River  ;  William  Isherwood,  Lowell ;  Patrick  McHugh,  Law- 
rence ;  Wright  Beaumont,  Lewiston  ;  Richard  Barlow,  New 
Bedford;  Thomas  Lynch,  Manchester,  N.  H.,  John  Mc- 
Laughlin,  Salmon  Falls,  N.  H.,  and  William  Green  and 
John  Trainer,  of  Lawrence  and  Biddeford,  respectively. 
The  convention  was  in  session  a  few  days,  and  it  was  finally 
resolved  that  the  efforts  of  the  operatives  should  not  be  re- 
laxed, but  that  they  should  push  forward  with  new  strength 
and  vigor  in  the  hope  of  having  ten  hours  recognized  as  a 
standard  day's  labor  in  cotton  and  woolen  mills. 

On  the  return  of  the  delegates,  meetings  were  called  to 
consider  the  best  means  to  obtain  from  the  manufacturers 


2lS  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  concession  of  ten  hours  for  a  day's  labor.  The  manufac- 
turers in  some  districts  agreed  to  adopt  the  ten-hour  system. 
Fall  River  began  to  work  ten  hours  a  day ;  the  Atlantic  Mills 
in  Lawrence  and  the  Wamsutta  Mills  of  New  Bedford  did 
the  same.  Several  of  the  districts  belonging  to  the  Spinners' 
National  Organization  ordered  their  members  out  on  strike, 
in  the  hope  of  wringing  it  from  their  employers,  but  their 
hopes  were  scattered  to  the  winds,  for  in  every  instance  in 
the  industrial  struggles  in  which  they  were  engaged,  they 
were  unsuccessful.  Their  leaders  were  blacklisted,  and  could 
not  obtain  employment  except  in  secluded  villages  where  they 
were  not  known.  New  Bedford  manufacturers  adopted  the 
ten-hour  system  on  the  ist  of  January,  1868,  and  went  back 
again  to  the  long  hour  system  on  February  ist,  the  month 
following.  This  action  of  the  manufacturers  created  a  strong 
feeling  of  distrust  and  indignation  among  the  operatives,  and 
the  Spinners'  Union  of  that  city  called  a  special  meeting,  and 
before  its  close  a  vote  was  taken  and  it  was  decided  to  strike 
for  ten  hours'  labor  per  day.  The  strike  was  bitterly  con- 
tested for  ten  weeks,  when  the  spinners  were  defeated,  some 
of  them  suffering  the  severest  pangs  of  hunger  before  they 
would  yield.  The  blacklist  was  again  brought  into  force, 
and  all  those  who  had  assisted  in  calling  meetings  or  taken 
any  active  part  whatever,  were  compelled  to  leave  the  city, 
work  being  refused  them  there.  For  the  unions  this  was  the 
"winter  of  their  discontent,"  nearly  all  of  them  having  fallen 
through,  \vith  the  exception  of  that  at  Fall  River,  where  the 
mills  engaged  in  cotton  manufacture  were  still  running  ten 
hours  per  day.  Repeated  efforts  were  made  between  1868 
and  1870  to  reorganize  the  unions  outside  of  Fall  River,  but 
they  all  proved  ineffectual,  for  they  had  been  badly  crushed, 
and  their  leaders  sent  away.  Still,  ten  hours  for  a  day's  labor 
was  on  everybody's  lips. 

The  ten-hour  bill  in  England  passed  its  final  stages  in  1850, 
and  the  great  bulk  of  the  textile  \vorkers  in  the  United  States 
argued  that,  living  under  republican  institutions,  they  were 
entitled  to  equal  rights  and  privileges  with  those  living  under 
monarchical  institutions. 


THE    NINE    WEEKS     STRIKE.  219 

Fall  River  still  was  working  its  employees  in  the  mills  but 
ten  hours  per  day.  In  1870  the  spinners  asked  for  a  restora- 
tion of  ten  per  cent.,  which  had  been  taken  from  their  wages 
a  short  time  previously.  The  manufacturers  offered  to  com- 
promise by  giving  five  per  cent.,  which  the  spinners  refused. 
A  strike  was  ordered  and,  after  a  nine  weeks'  struggle,  the 
spinners  were  defeated,  and  when  the  machinery  was  started 
up  again  every  manufacturer  in  Fall  River  went  back  again 
to  the  long-hour  system,  after  working  ten  hours  per  day  lor 
twenty-two  months. 

During  this  nine  weeks'  strike  an  effort  was  made  by  the 
Durfee  Mill  officials  to  obtain  "knobsticks"  to  take  the  places 
of  the  strikers.  Great  confusion  and  excitement  prevailed 
around  the  mills  when  the  "knobsticks"  were  put  in  the  mills 
to  work,  and  several  violent  assaults  were  made  upon  them. 
Some  of  them  were  badly  beaten,  and  it  was  feared  that  there 
would  be  a  riot.  The  bitter  feeling  was  increased  by  a  mill 
official's  ordering  a  fire  company,  which  had  been  summoned, 
to  play  upon  the  excited  crowd.  This  nearly  caused  a  riot, 
but  ultimately  wise  counsel  prevailed  and  reason  triumphed 
over  passion,  and  the  strikers  quieted  down  again. 

This  strike  and  its  attendant  consequences  was  a  severe 
blow  to  the  spinners  of  Fall  River,  for  through  losing  the 
battle  they  had  to  go  back  to  long  hours,  their  wages  were 
reduced,  and  the  backbone  of  their  union  broken. 

Thus  twelve  years1  from  the  time  of  the  reorganization  of 
the  Fall  River  Spinners'  Union,  which  was  in  1858,  it  had 
temporarily  ceased  to  exist.  The  furniture  belonging  to  the 
union  was  given  to  a  body  of  men  who  had  formed  a  short- 
hour  committee,  and  who  were  endeavoring  to  have  a  law 
passed  through  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  that  would 
restrict  the  hours  of  labor  to  sixty  a  week  for  all  women  and 
minors  employed  in  textile  industries.  This  band  of  men 
were  untiring  in  their  exertions,  and  they  could  be  seen  fre- 
quently, after  their  day's  work  in  the  mill  was  over,  with  a 
table  and  a  chair  at  the  corners  of  the  principal  streets  Solicit- 
ing names  to  petitions  designed  for  presentation  to  the  Legis- 
lature in  favor  of  the  passage  of  a  ten-hour  law.  Among  the 


22O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

most  diligent  workers  in  this  movement  were  Allen  Lockwood 
and  William  Isherwood,  while  Representatives  Fairbanks, 
Davol  and  Hart  supported  in  an  able  and  effective  manner  the 
passage  of  the  bill  in  the  Legislature.  The  Spinners'  Union 
began  to  move  again  1873,  when  it  was  reorganized,  and  at 
once  took  a  leading  part  in  the  agitation  in  support  of  a 
ten-hour  law.  The  factory  hands  in  Lawrence  were  work- 
ing assiduously  also  to  further  the  ten-hour  movement.  A 
demonstration  was  gotten  up  on  a  large  scale  in  Fall 
River,  upwards  of  fifteen  thousand  people  participating  in 
it.  There  were  bands  heading  the  different  divisions  of 
the  procession;  while  banners  were  carried  aloft  by  little 
children,  with  various  mottoes  inscribed  on  them  favoring 
less  hours  of  labor.  A  meeting  was  held  after  the  procession 
had  marched  through  the  city,  and  resolutions  drawn  and  ap- 
proved. They  were  afterwards  sent  to  the  Legislature,  and 
a  ten-hour  bill  was  made  law  for  all  women  and  children 
employed  in  the  textile  industries  in  1874. 

The  years  of  1872-73,  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  ten- 
hour  law,  was  a  very  trying  time  for  the  operatives  em- 
ployed in  the  textile  industries.  The  failures  of  banks  and 
the  subsequent  financial  depression,  led  to  an  era  of  bad  trade 
which  continued,  with  a  downward  tendency  in  the  price  of 
textile  products,  and  a  corresponding  decrease  in  wages,  up 
to  the  year  of  1879.  Fall  River,  having  grown  into  the 
largest  cotton  manufacturing  city  in  the  country,  was  destined 
to  play  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  great  industrial  struggle 
which  took  place  between  employers  and  employees  during 
this  long  period  of  depression,  in  which  there  was  over  forty 
per  cent,  reduced  from  the  wages  of  employees.  At  the  ter- 
mination of  the  war,  Fall  River  had  265,328  spindles  engaged 
in  cotton  manufacture  ;  and  ten  years  after,  in  1874,  when  the 
ten-hour  bill  passed  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  the 
number  of  spindles  had  increased  to  1,258,508,  and  the  popu- 
lation increased  from  17,525  in  1865,  to  43,289  in  1874.  No 
other  textile  city  was  growing  so  rapidly,  and  none  felt  the 
effects  of  the  depressed  condition  of  trade  more  than  this 
city  did,  because  nearly  all  its  people  were  dependent  upon 


FALL    RIVER    CONVENTION.  221 

the  cotton  industry  for  a  livelihood.  In  the  fall  of  1873 
wages  were  reduced  ten  per  cent.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
months  another  reduction  was  made ;  and,  in  the  beginning 
of  1874,  large  meetings  of  operatives  were  held  in  various 
parts  of  the  city,  and  resolutions  passed  protesting  against 
the  reductions  in  wages.  The  spinners  began  to  fall  into 
line  rapidly,  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to  close  up  and  so 
strengthen  their  ranks  as  to  be  able  to  not  only  resist  further 
encroachments  upon  their  wages  but  to  compel  a  restoration 
of  some  of  that  which  had  been  taken  from  them  the  year 
previously.  A  convention  of  delegates  from  the  various 
spinning  districts  was  convened  in  Fall  River  in  the  spring 
of  1874,  and  a  system  of  concerted  action  was  agreed  upon  ; 
also,  that  with  the  first  appearance  of  an  improvement  in  the 
trade,  the  spinners  of  Fall  River  should  throw  down  the 
gauntlet  and  demand  an  advance  in  wages  or  strike  for  it. 
Thus  Fall  River  was  selected  as  the  battle-field  for  the  textile 
workers  of  New  England.  And  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that 
its  working  people  always  proved  themselves  to  be  ahead  of 
most  of  the  New  England  operatives  in  intelligence,  execu- 
tive ability,  perseverance  and  determination  when  engaged 
in  industrial  warfare.  In  following  the  progress  of  the  textile 
trades  organizations  through  the  remainder  of  this  chapter, 
Fall  River  will  be  taken  as  a  suitable  type  of  the  cotton-pro- 
ducing districts.  Its  experience  was  duplicated  with  more  or 
less  variation  in  Lawrence,  Lowell  and  similar  centers ;  but 
it  is  not  essential  to  detail  here  the  strikes  and  their  results, 
by  which  the  operatives  sought  to  maintain  and  improve 
their  condition. 

In  1874  tne  Fall  River  spinners  petitioned  the  manufac- 
turers for  more  wages,  and  were  refused.  A  vote  was  taken 
at  the  next  general  meeting,  and  it  was  decided  to  defer  leav- 
ing work  until  a  more  auspicious  time. 

About  this  time  the  card-room  operatives  began  to  make 
strenuous  efforts  to  form  an  organization  for  the  promotion  and 
protection  of  their  interests.  After  many  unsuccessful  efforts 
an  association  was  finally  formed,  and  they  commenced  to 
hold  their  meetings  in  the  spinners'  hall.  This  association 


222  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

consisted  chiefly  of  women,  as  there  are  but  few  men  engaged 
in  that  branch  of  cotton  manufacturing,  and  its  membership 
numbered  over  one  thousand  at  the  close  of  1874.  Simul- 
taneously with  the  card-room  hands,  the  weavers  began  to  or- 
ganize also.  They  formed  an  association  called  the  Weavers' 
Protective  Association,  and  before  the  advent  of  1875,  that 
ever  memorable  year  in  the  history  of  textile  warfare,  the 
number  of  good  members  on  the  books  exceeded  five  thou- 
sand. The  men  who  were  elected  officers  of  this  association 
were  possessed  of  extraordinary  skill  and  ability  as  organiz- 
ers, and  they  soon  began  to  formulate  plans  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  whole  of  the  wage-workers  employed  in  the  textile 
industries  of  New  England.  To  this  end  deputations  were 
sent  out  to  do  missionary  work  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  Hampshire. 
Several  weavers'  organizations  were  formed,  and  the  people 
were  thoroughly  aroused  to  the  emergencies  of  the  hour. 
Promises  were  made  to  stand  by  their  fellow  toilers  in  Fall 
River  in  defending  the  rights  and  dignity  of  labor.  Toward 
the  end  of  1874  *ne  spinners,  weavers  and  card-room  hands 
held  several  joint  conferences,  with  the  view  of  adopting  the 
best  possible  course  to  effect  a  restoration  of  some  of  the  cut- 
downs  which  had  been  made  in  their  wages  during  the  two 
preceding  years.  It  was  unanimously  agreed  that  mixed  dep- 
utations, consisting  of  a  spinner,  a  weaver,  and  a  card-room 
hand,  should  interview  their  employers  and  request  a  return 
often  per  cent,  in  wages.  The  request  was  refused.  Conse- 
quently the  weavers  at  three  mills  tendered  ten  days'  notice, 
prior  to  going  out  on  strike.  In  the  early  part  of  February, 
1875,  tne  notice  expired,  and  the  weavers  of  the  Merchants, 
Crescent  and  Granite  Mills,  Fall  River,  struck  work.  When 
the  spinners  saw  the  weavers  leaving  the  mills,  they  struck 
also  ;  and  they  were  afterwards  followed  by  the  card-room 
hands.  Large  meetings  of  the  operatives  were  held,  and  dele- 
gates were  appointed  to  visit  all  the  manufacturing  districts  to 
solicit  aid  for  the  strikers.  The  weavers  remaining  at  work 
at  the  other  mills  in  the  city  were  levied  ten  cents  per  loom  to 
assist  those  on  strike.  The  card-room  hands  also  taxed  each 


THE    GREAT    VACATION.  223 

member  employed,  while  the  spinners  levied  a  tax  of  one  dol- 
lar per  head  weekly  on  each  member.  Considerable  money 
rolled  in  from  outside  districts ;  and  what  improved  the  pros- 
pects of  success  was  the  strengthening  of  the  cloth  market, 
the  advance  in  price  of  cloth  and  the  appreciation  of  mill 
stock.  These  causes  filled  the  strikers  with  hope  and  con- 
fidence, and  three  more  mills  were  ordered  to  be  struck.  This 
action  made  the  total  number  of  operatives  on  strike  between 
three  and  four  thousand.  In  the  middle  of  March,  negotia- 
tions were  opened  which  led  to  the  strikers  resuming  work  on 
the  promise  that  the  ten  per  cent,  advance  in  wages  would  be 
given  on  April  ist.  Shortly  after  this  advance  in  wages, 
deputations  visited  their  employers  soliciting  .weekly,  instead 
of  monthly,  payment  of  wages.  Their  request  was  refused  ; 
but  this  commenced  the  agitation  which  resulted  in  the  enact- 
ment of  the  present  law  in  Massachusetts,  which  compels  all 
corporations  to  pay  their  employees  weekly. 

There  was  more  or  less  uneasiness  evinced  throughout  the 
textile  districts  during  the  summer  of  1875.  Strikes  on  a 
small  scale  were  very  common  among  the  weavers,  and  much 
hard  feeling  was  engendered  between  the  employers  and  the 
employees.  Finally  the  Fall  River  manufacturers,  taking 
advantage  of  a  lull  in  the  market  and  contending  that  they 
were  paying  higher  prices  .than  other  districts,  posted  notices 
to  the  effect  that  wages  would  be  reduced  on  the  first  of 
August  ten  per  cent.  The  embers  of  discontent,  which 
had  been  smouldering  all  summer,  burst  suddenly  into  a 
blaze.  Delegates  were  appointed  from  the  meetings  of  the 
weavers,  carders  and  spinners  to  confer  together,  to  strike 
out  some  line  of  action  for  the  help  to  pursue.  The  three 
separate  bodies  met  in  their  respective  rooms,  a  few  days 
prior  to  the  notices  for  a  reduction  in  wages  expiring,  and 
delegates  were  appointed  from  each  body,  who  conferred  to- 
gether and  decided  to  suspend  work  for  the  month  of  August. 
Thus  on  the  first  of  August  commenced  what  is  called  "The 
Great  Vacation,"  when  1,269,048  spindles  ceased  to  hum; 
over  30,000  looms,  which  manufactured  cloth  at  the  rate  of 
343,375,000  yards  per  year,  or  nearly  a  mile  per  minute, 


224  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

were  silent;  which  rendered  15,000  people  idle,  with  a  loss 
weekly  in  wages  of  $82,973.  This  was  a  sad  condition  of 
affairs  for  employers  and  employees  to  witness  on  August 
1st,  1875.  The  breach  seemed  to  widen  as  the  stoppage 
continued.  There  did  not  seem  a  vestige  left  of  that  old 
friendly  feeling  which  used  to  exist  between  employer  and 
employee  in  the  early  days  of  cotton  manufacturing  in  the 
United  States.  After  three  weeks  had  elapsed,  and  the  help 
were  getting  ready  to  resume  work  again,  it  suddenly  leaked 
out  that  the  manufacturers  would  not  start  the  mills  until  each 
operative  signed  his  or  her  name  to  an  iron-clad  document. 
Some  of  the  stipulations  were  that  only  one  out  of  every  eight 
operatives  could  give  notice  to  leave  work  at  the  same  time. 
This  was  done  to  prevent  concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the 
operatives.  Another  stipulation  was  that  no  operative  should 
belong  to  a  trades-union  in  the  future.  The  operatives,  after 
the  month's  vacation  expired,  refused  to  start  work  under  these 
conditions  on  the  first  of  September. 

Finally  hunger  and  want  won  the  battle,  and  in  the  eighth 
week  of  the  stoppage  the  various  unions  voted  to  resume 
work  unconditionally,  accepting  the  ten  per  cent,  reduction, 
and  signing  the  infamous  document  as  demanded  by  the  man- 
ufacturers. Thus  ended  the  nine  weeks'  "vacation,"  which 
caused  a  loss  of  $746*7°°  m  wages  alone,  while  the  loss  to 
the  manufacturers  must  have  been  enormous.  With  a  single 
exception  the  conduct  of  the  operatives  was  praiseworthy  all 
through  the  strike,  and  in  that  one  instance  it  is  an  open 
question  whether  the  starving  people  out  of  work  or  the  city 
officials  were  to  blame.  Two  companies  of  militia  were  sum- 
moned from  Taunton  and  Middleboro,  when  a  collision  be- 
tween the  strikers  and  the  authorities  seemed  inevitable,  and 
Company  M,  of  Fall  River,  was  also  at  the  service  of  the 
authorities.  Their  services  were  not  needed,  however,  and 
the  operatives  were  soon  on  most  friendly  terms  with  them. 
Those  who  had  acted  as  leaders  in  the  operatives'  ranks,  or 
any  of  those  who  had  addressed  the  public  meetings,  which 
had  been  held  so  frequently  during  the  stoppage  of  the  mills, 
were  all  blacklisted,  arid  prevented  from  obtaining  employ- 


SPINNERS'  UNION  OF  FALL  RIVER.  225 

ment  at  any  of  the  mills  in  the  city.  The  weavers'  organi- 
zation was  completely  broken  to  rjieces,  and  what  little  money 
was  in  the  treasury  wras  divided  among  the  members  who  had 
been  victimized,  to  enable  them  to  travel  and  seek  employ- 
ment elsewhere.  The  card -room  operatives'  organization 
went  to  pieces  also,  owing  to  the  loss  of  its  leaders,  who  were 
all  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  blacklist.  The  spinners'  or- 
ganization still  kept  its  head  above  the  water,  and  though 
most  of  its  members  signed  the  "Infamous  Document,"  as  did 
those  of  other  branches,  they  were  no  way  reluctant  in  telling 
their  overseers  that  they  did  not  consider  it  binding,  as  it 
was  their  starving  children  that  compelled  them  to  sign  it 
against  their  wills,  and  that  they  should  still  stand  by  their 
union. 

As  a  natural  result  of  the  fierce  industrial  struggles  between 
the  employers  and  employees  which  occurred  in  the  textile 
industry,  and  the  many  defeats  the  latter  sustained,  but  one 
organized  body  of  textile  workers  remained  in  1876  ;  that  was 
the  Spinners'  Union  of  Fall  River.  Trade,  about  this  time, 
took  a  slight  upward  movement,  and  the  Fall  River  spinners, 
always  on  the  alert,  immediately  petitioned  for  more  wages. 
Deputations  waited  upon  the  employers  at  every  mill  in  the 
city,  but  the  answers  received  were  all  unfavorable.  Weekly, 
instead  of  monthly,  payments  were  granted,  however,  at  some 
of  the  mills. 

The  failure  of  the  chief  of  the  district  police  to  enforce  the 
labor  laws  caused  the  adoption  of  resolutions  of  censure  by 
the  spinners  and  their  remonstrance  before  the  legislative 
labor  committee.  A  new  chief  was  soon  appointed,  and  the 
ten-hour  law  was  so  amended  as  to  make  its  enforcement 
more  easy. 

During  1876  another  ten  per  cent,  reduction  was  made. 
This  angered  the  operatives  to  such  a  degree  that  it  was  only 
by  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  officers  of  the  union  that  the  spin- 
ners were  prevented  from  striking.  The  union  now  com- 
menced to  lose  members.  A  strike  occurred  at  the  Granite 
No.  i  mill,  which  ended  disastrously  to  the  spinners.  An 
unsuccessful  strike  in  New  Bedford  at  this  time  was  felt  so 

(15) 


226  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

keenly  in  Fall  River  also,  that  many  members  of  the  Spin- 
ners' Union  fell  in  arrears,  and  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty 
that  it  could  be  kept  together. 

For  the  purpose  of  stemming  the  tide  of  dissolution  which 
seemed  to  have  set  in,  the  veteran  labor  reformer,  George 
E.  McNeill,  of  Boston,  who  had  in  the  past  given  his  ser- 
vices to  the  union,  was  invited  to  assist  in  rallying  the 
men  and  preserving  the  Union.  Mr.  McNeill  was  highly 
respected  among  the  spinners,  for  they  knew  him  to  be  an 
earnest,  sincere  man,  who  lost  considerable  time  and  money 
through  ever  being  willing  to  give  his  services  gratuitously 
to  any  movement  tending  to  unite  and  elevate  the  working- 
men.  Meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  which 
Mr.  McNeill  addressed.  He  seemed  to  inspire  new  hope 
and  courage  into  the  men.  Many  of  them  fell  into  line 
again  and  promised  to  stand  by  the  Union  through  "  thick 
and  thin,"  and  saying  that  in  it  lay  their  only  salvation. 
Toward  the  end  of  1877  the  Spinners'  Union  was  as  strong 
as  at  any  past  period  in  its  history. 

In  1878  trade  gradually  grew  worse,  until  there  was  scarcely 
any  margin  for  the  manufacturer,  and  the  wages  of  the  em- 
ployees were  thirty  per  cent,  less  than  in  1873.  Fall  River 
felt  the  depression  more  keenly  than  any  other  textile  dis- 
trict. Some  of  the  mills  were  paying  twenty  per  cent,  for 
money,  and  cloth  was  down  to  three  cents  per  yard  for  prints. 
On  March  I2th  notices  of  a  fifteen  per  cent,  reduction  were 
posted.  A  mass-meeting  of  operatives  was  immediately  held  to 
protest  against  the  reduction.  Over  twenty-five  hundred  peo- 
ple assembled  in  the  Academy  of  Music  and  protested  against 
their  wages  being  reduced.  They  said  that  if  the  reduction 
of  wages  was  enforced,  it  would  make  forty-five  per  cent, 
in  the  total  of  reductions  in  wages  sustained  in  less  than 
five  years.  Deputations  were  appointed  from  the  Spinners' 
Union,  to  request  their  employers  to  run  the  mills  four  days 
per  week  instead  of  cutting  down  wages.  The  spinners  con- 
tended that  every  time  wages  were  reduced  the  price  of  cloth 
fell  more  proportionately ;  and,  consequently,  the  reduction 
was  no  benefit  to  employers,  while  it  was  a  loss  to  the  em- 


GRAND    DEMONSTRATION    OF    1878.  2 27 

ployees.  The  only  gainers  were  the  consumers.  They  also 
claimed  that  by  cutting  down  wages  they  were  "killing  the 
goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg,"  by  reducing  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  people.  The  employers  insisted  on  reducing 
wages,  and  the  reduction  went  into  effect  toward  the  latter 
end  of  March.  Two  weeks  after  the  reduction  in  wages 
cloth  fell  to  lower  prices  than  ever  known,  and  a  tremendous 
shrinkage  took  place  in  mill  stocks.  The  policy  of  running 
the  mills  on  short  time,  advocated  by  the  operatives  but  a 
month  before,  was  resorted  to  in  April  by  the  manufacturers, 
and  the  mills  were  run  but  alternate  weeks  for  eighteen  weeks 
through  the  summer  months.  Hardly  had  the  short  time  been 
adopted,  when  the  air  was  full  of  rumors  that  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  mills  in  Fall  River  were  on  the  verge  of  ruin. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  here  to  detail  how  Treasurer  Angier 
S.  Chace  of  the  Union  Mill  was  found  to  be  a  defaulter  to  the 
amount  of  about  $500,000  ;  Treasurer  George  T.  Hathaway, 
of  Border  City,  Nos.  i  and  2,  and  of  the  Sagamore,  to  the 
extent  of  over  $1,000,000;  Treasurer  Charles  P.  Stickney,  of 
the  Fall  River  Gas  Company,  in  the  sum  of  $30,000  ;  and  how 
they  were  sentenced  to  twelve,  ten  and  five  years'  imprison- 
ment, respectively,  in  the  State  prison.  The  public  has  not 
yet  forgotten  these  crimes  and  their  punishment.  The  people 
of  Fall  River,  now  said  that  the  industrial  struggle  tof  1875 
had  worked  more  to  the  injury  of  the  manufacturers  than 
they  had  been  willing  to  admit. 

About  this  time  the  operatives  decided  to  have  a  public  dem- 
onstration, expressing  dissatisfaction  at  the  low  wages  they 
were  receiving,  at  the  violation  of  the  ten-hour  law,  and  their 
contempt  for  the  fraudulent  mill  treasurers,  who,  by  their  dis- 
honesty, had  robbed  some  workingmen  of  their  whole  life's 
savings.  The  demonstration  was  on  a  Saturday  afternoon, 
in  the  month  of  May,  and  the  various  divisions  marched  to 
the  city  lots  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  preceded  by  bands  and 
commanded  by  mounted  marshals.  It  was  supposed  that 
twenty  thousand  people  participated  in  the  procession,  many 
of  them  carrying  banners  and  cartoons  expressive  of  their 
opinions  upon  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  city,  and  of  their 


228  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

sentiments.  Groans  were  given  outside  many  of  the  mill- 
treasurers'  residences,  but  no  acts  of  violence  were  com- 
mitted. The  procession  finally  reached  the  public  park, 
where  speeches  were  delivered  from  the  band-stand  by  the 
officers  of  the  day,  and  the  people  were  advised  to  go  peace- 
fully to  their  homes,  and  to  respect  the  law  in  its  integrity 
and  entirety. 

There  was  great  misery  and  distress  existing  in  Fall  River 
during  the  summer  months,  owing  to  the  mills  running  only 
half  time,  and  to  the  great  reduction  which  had  been  made 
in  wages. 

The  Spinners'  Union,  the  only  organization  of  textile 
workers  in  the  New  England  States,  could  hardly  maintain 
its  existence.  In  the  month  of  June,  Robert  Howard  was. 
appointed  secretary,  and  the  association  soon  began  to  in- 
crease in  members  and  in  funds.  Every  member  seemed  to 
have  confidence  in  his  ability  and  strict  integrity,  and  he 
went  to  work  with  a  will  to  help  to  build  up  the  Union 
stronger  than  ever  it  was  before.  It  had  grown  so  strong 
by  December,  1878,  that  Mr.  Howard  was  elected  perma- 
nent secretary,  so  that  he  could  devote  all  his  time  to  the 
interest  of  the  Union  and  its  members.  His  salary  was 
equal  to  that  of  the  average  spinner.  Early  in  1879  busi- 
ness began  to  improve.  The  members  of  the  Spinners' 
Union  at  Fall  River  thought  the  time  had  come  for  the  res- 
toration of  a  part  of  the  reduction.  A  meeting  of  spinners 
was  called,  and  the  condition  of  trade  fully  discussed.  It  was 
resolved  that  petitions  be  sent  to  the  employers,  soliciting  a 
return  of  ten  per  cent,  in  wages.  The  petitions  met  with  a 
cold  and  haughty  refusal.  All  argument  was  of  no  avail. 
The  spinners,  after  hearing  the  reports  of  the  committee, 
postponed  taking  action  for  two  weeks.  Negotiations  were 
going  on  meanwhile  between  employers  and  employees  as 
to  the  best  and  most  satisfactory  basis  on  which  to  effect  a 
settlement  of  the  dispute ;  but  nothing  definite  was  accom- 
plished. When  the  adjourned  meeting  came  the  situation 
was  thoroughly  discussed.  Finally  an  informal  vote  was 
taken,  and  the  majority  voted  in  favor  of  striking,  in  order  to 


GREAT    STRIKE    OF    1879.  229 

to  enforce  their  just  demands.  The  committee,  desirous  of 
giving  the  employers  more  time  for  reflection,  and  feeling 
opposed  to  a  strike,  suggested  that  the  vote  be  taken  by 
ballot  one  week  hence.  In  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
association,  a  two-thirds  vote  would  be  required  before  a 
strike  could  be  declared.  The  taking  of  the  vote  was  de- 
ferred for  one  week.  Efforts  were  made  during  the  week  to 
bring  about  a  settlement  of  the  troubles  by  arbitration.  To 
this  end  the  spinners'  committee  announced  publicly  that 
they  would  submit  the  whole  case  for  settlement  to  a  board 
of  arbitration.  The  employers  issued  a  circular  shortly  after 
this,  stating  that  they  did  not  propose  to  allow  outsiders  to 
run  their  business,  and  that  arbitration  was  not  in  consonance 
with  the  ways  of  doing  business  in  the  United  States.  The 
spinners'  secretary,  Mr.  Howard,  immediately  replied  through 
another  circular,  showing  that  arbitration  was  in  consonance 
with  the  customs  of  this  country,  and  that  our  own  Govern- 
ment had  set  the  example  by  settling  with  the  Government 
of  England  the  claims  arising  out  of  the  depredations  com- 
mitted by  the  "Alabama."  All  efforts  having  failed,  but  two 
courses  were  left  open  to  the  spinners.  One  was  to  entirely 
recede  from  their  position  :  the  other,  to  enter  into  a  struggle 
with  their  employers,  the  result  of  which  it  was  impossible 
to  foretell. 

On  the  1 5th  of  June  the  spinners  decided  to  strike,  and 
that,  instead  of  leaving  work  immediately,  to  give  two  weeks' 
notice  that  unless  the  advance  was  conceded  by  the  26th 
of  June,  all  hands  would  leave  work.  Several  meetings 
were  held  between  the  I5th  and  26th  of  the  month.  But 
the  "die  was  cast"  ;  neither  party  would  recede  from  its  posi- 
tion. The  most  that  could  be  gained  was  a  promise  from 
several  mills  of  weekly  payments.  This  did  not  satisfy  the 
spinners.  On  the  26th  the  notice  expired,  and  on  the 
morryng  following  upwards  of  one  thousand  spinners  and 
about  nine  hundred  boys,  who  were  employed  in  the  same 
department,  were  in  the  streets.  All  the  money  the  spinners 
had  in  their  treasury  was  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  a  sum  en- 
tirely insufficient  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  the  case.  Thirty 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

delegates  were  appointed  to  solicit  aid.  Some  went  to  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island, 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  but  most  of  them  stayed  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. A  few  days  after  the  spinners  struck  work,  most 
of  the  other  operatives  in  the  mills  were  compelled  to  stop  for 
the  want  of  yarn,  and  other  kindred  causes,  thus  throwing 
over  fourteen  thousand  people  on  the  streets.  The  cloth  trade 
kept  improving,  making  the  manufacturers  desirous  of  getting 
their  machinery  in  motion.  With  this  object  in  view,  agents 
were  hired  and  sent  out  all  over  the  cotton  districts  to  try  and 
obtain  spinners.  These  agents  received  from  three  to  twelve 
dollars  per  head,  besides  all  expenses  incurred  for  every  spin- 
ner so  obtained.  Some  of  these,  "knobstick"  spinners,  as  they 
were  called,  received  fifty  and  sixty  per  cent,  more  wages 
than  the  spinners  on  strike  could  earn,  in  order  to  induce  thjem 
to  remain.  Every  one  of  them  was  furnished  with  a  revolver 
as  soon  as  they  entered  the  mills,  to  shoot  the  strikers  if  they 
approached  them. 

Large  dwellings  were  built  in  all  the  mill-yards  for  the 
knobstick  spinners  to  reside  in,  because  the  employers  were 
afraid  to  have  them  outside  the  mill,  thinking  that  the  striking 
spinners  would  induce  them  to  leave  the  city.  Drink  of  all 
kinds  used  to  be  carried  to  the  barracks,  as  their  dwelling 
places  were  commonly  termed,  and  other  various  kinds  of 
pleasures  were  introduced  by  some  of  the  mill  officials,  who 
publicly  desired  to  be  regarded  among  the  strongest  of  tem- 
perance reformers. 

A  great  number  of  the  knobstick  help  consisted  of  young 
French  Canadians.  Circulars  and  posters  in  English  and 
French  were  freely  circulated  in  the  regions  they  came  from, 
stating  the  cause  of  the  troubles  in  Fall  River,  and  asking 
other  cotton  operatives  to  keep  away.  Great  meetings  were 
held  at  Lawrence,  Lynn,  Boston  and  Lowell  during  the 
strike,  all  of  which  were  addressed  by  the  secretary  gf  the 
association.  More  than  ten  thousand  people  were  present  at 
the  meeting,  which  was  held  on  the  common,  at  Lynn ;  and 
during  the  strike  the  shoe-workers  of  Lynn  sent  to  the  strik- 
ers in  Fall  River,  $2,300.  The  cities  of  Lowell  and  Law- 


INTERNATIONAL    LABOR    UNION.  231 

rence  sent  $1,400  between  them;  New  York  sent  $1,500, 
while  large  contributions  were  received  from  all  parts  of  the 
States.  The  Typographical  Union,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
sent  two  hundred  dollars  by  telegraph.  It  is  deserving  of 
mention,  as  "  actions  speak  louder  than  words,"  that  two  of  the 
delegates  who  were  stationed  in  New  York  called  upon  the 
late  John  Kelly,  of  Tammany  Hall  fame,  who,  upon  seeing 
their  credentials,  immediately  gave  them  one  hundred  dollars. 
During  the  sixteen  weeks  of  the  strike  upwards  of  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  were  raised  from  outside  sources. 

The  International  Labor  Union  of  America,  which  the  spin- 
ners joined  a  little  prior  to  the  strike,  rendered  them  good 
service,  perhaps  bringing  directly  and  indirectly  about  two 
thousand  dollars  into  the  spinners'  funds.  George  E.  McNeill 
was  president  of  this  union  ;  John  H.  O'Connor,  of  Paterson, 
secretary ;  and  Carl  Speyer,  of  New  York,  treasurer.  The 
officers  did  all  that  men  could  do  to  raise  money  to  enable  the 
spinners  to  prolong  the  contest,  because  nearly  everybody  was 
convinced  that,  if  the  spinners  could  only  hold  out,  owing 
to  the  great  improvement  in  the  market,  the  manufacturers 
would  eventually  yield.  The  latter,  however,  determined  to 
starve  the  spinners  into  submission.  All  the  relatives  of  the 
strikers  were  prevented  from  getting  work  in  the  city,  and 
such  as  were  working  were  singled  out  and  discharged. 
Efforts  were  made  to  prevent  the  storekeepers  from  serving 
them  with  groceries  on  credit ;  and  many  families  were  put 
out  of  their  tenements,  having  to  seek  shelter  where  best  they 
could.  The  spinners,  before  they  struck,  passed  a  resolution 
to  do  without  any  assistance  for  the  first  three  weeks,  and 
afterwards  to  be  satisfied  with  such  help  as  the  association 
could  render.  The  relief  was  doled  out  in  grocery  checks, 
and  the  amount  allowed  was  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per 
week  for  an  unmarried  man,  the  same  amount  to  married 
men,  with  twenty-five  cents  additional  for  their  wives  and 
each  child  unemployed.  Before  the  strike  had  been  pro- 
gressing many  weeks,  many  of  those  engaged  in  it  were  in 
an  impoverished  condition.  To  make  matters  worse,  the 
corporation  officials  had  a  large  number  of  the  strikers  ar- 


232  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

rested  on  the  most  flimsy  pretexts.  So  long  as  the  funds  of 
the  association  held  out,  none  of  the  strikers  were  allowed  to 
go  to  jail,  if  a  fine  was  the  alternative.  But  this  drain  on  the 
treasury  led  to  a  reduction  in  the  weekly  allowance  to  those 
on  strike.  After  the  strike  had  continued  ten  weeks,  it  was 
plain  to  be  seen  that  the  employers,  despite  the  advance  of 
three-quarters  of  a  cent  per  yard  in  cloth,  intended  to  fight 
it  out  to  the  bitter  end.  More  money  was  needed  by  the 
spinners,  or  hunger  would  do  its  work  effectively,  and  the 
contest  would  be  lost.  A  variety  troupe  was  formed  from  the 
strikers,  which  gave  several  skoivs  in  the  Opera  House,  Fall 
River,  to  good  houses,  all  the  proceeds,  after  paying  running 
expenses,  being  passed  in  to  the  spinners'  treasury.  So  suc- 
cessful was  the  troupe  at  home,  that  it  ventured  abroad,  visiting 
Brockton,  Randolph,  Holbrook,  Lynn,  Boston,  Lowell  and 
Lawrence.  Considerable  sums  of  money  were  raised  by  this 
troupe,  all  of  which  were  utilized  for  the  benefit  of  the  strikers. 
At  the  end  of  fourteen  weeks  from  the  commencement  of 
the  strike,  signs  of  weakness  were  visible  in  the  ranks.  In- 
sufficient food  and  shoeless  feet  were  telling  upon  the  strikers, 
and  every  imaginable  kind  of  temptation  was  being  held  out 
by  the  superintendents  and  overseers  of  the  mills,  in  order  to 
get  them  to  break  from  the  rest  and  thus  hasten  the  end  of  the 
strike.  In  the  sixteenth  week  a  break  occurred  among  the 
help  on  strike  at  the  Border  City  Mills.  Several  of  them, 
having  been  filled  with  drink,  returned  to  work.  This  was 
the  signal  for  others  to  follow.  A  general  meeting  was  then 
called,  and  it  was  resolved,  though  not  without  much  opposi- 
tion, that  the  help  at  each  mill  should  make  the  best  possi- 
ble terms  with  their  employers.  Some  of  the  mills  promised 
weekly  instead  of  monthly  payments,  and  other  small  conces- 
sions. Thus  ended  the  most  determined  and  the  most  bitterly 
contested  struggle  that  ever  occurred  in  the  annals  of  Fall 
River  industrial  history.  The  strike  commenced  June  26th, 
1879,  and  encied  October  i6th.  It  was  lost  only  for  want  of 
money  to  carry  it  on  with.  The  strikers  were  just  as  deter- 
mined at  the  ending  ^as  they  were  at  the  beginning  of  the 
conflict ;  just  as  confident  that  their  cause  was  right. 


WEEKLY    PAYMENTS.  233 

The  spinners,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  association  held 
after  the  termination  of  the  strike,  placed  a  levy  of  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  per  month  upon  each  member  to  assist  those 
who  had  been  victimized  and  deprived  of  their  situations. 

Trade  continuing  to  improve,  the  spinners,  in  November, 
asked  an  increase,  and  two  months  after  the  wages  were  ad- 
vanced in  accordance  with  the  spinners'  request ;  all  the  mills 
in  the  New  England  States  following  the  example.  Thus 
the  persistent  and  determined  action  of  the  Fall  River  Mule- 
Spinners'  Union  secured  not  only  an  advance  for  themselves, 
but  for  the  whole  of  the  unorganized  cotton  help  of  New 
England.  The  Union  then  began  to  agitate  for  weekly  pay- 
ments instead  of  monthly,  and  before  the  expiration  of  March, 
1880,  nineteen  out  of  the  fifty-three  mills  made  the  desired 
change.  The  power  of  united  action  was  once  more  forcibly 
displayed,  as  no  other  cotton  mill  in  the  United  States  was 
then  paying  weekly. 

The  Fall  River  spinners,  in  April,  1880,  three  months  after 
receiving  the  fifteen  per  cent,  advance,  owing  to  the  continued 
prosperity  in  trade,  voted  to  strike  ten  mills  out  of  the  fifty- 
three  in  the  city  if  wages  were  not  increased  ten  per  cent. 
The  Manufacturers'  Board  of  Trade  met  on  the  same  day, 
and  it  was  a  surprise  on  the  following  morning  to  find  in  the 
same  papers  two  announcements — one,  of  a  threatened  strike 
of  the  spinners ;  the  other,  from  the  manufacturers,  stating 
that  wages  would  be  advanced  as  desired.  The  other  mills 
in  New  England  again  adapted  the  example  set  in  Fall  River 
and  increased  wages.  Thus  the  cotton  operatives  of  New 
England  were  once  more  indebted  to  the  activity  of  the  Fall 
River  Spinners'  Union  for  the  increase  in  wages.  From  this 
time  until  fall  the  spinners  labored  zealously  for  weekly  pay- 
ments and  a  better  enforcement  of  the  ten-hour  law.  Their 
efforts  were  defeated  in  the  Legislature ;  the  mill  treasurers 
were  then  labored  with,  and  several  of  them  adopted  weekly 
payments.  In  September,  but  six  months  after  the  last  ad- 
vance in  wages,  the  mill  officials  notified  the  help  that  on 
account  of  the  fall  in  the  price  of  cloth,  which  was  then 
selling  at  four  cents  per  yard,  the  wages  would  be  reduced 


234  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ten  per  cent.  ;  or,  in  other  words,  put  back  to  where  they 
were  prior  to  the  first  of  April  of  the  same  year.  The  opera- 
tives were  wild  with  excitement,  the  storekeepers  and  other 
respectable  citizens  holding  with  them,  because  they  knew 
well  that  during  the  preceding  twelve  months  the  corporations 
had  made  immense  sums  of  money,  and  that  many  of  them, 
after  paying  twenty  per  cent,  dividends,  had  as  much  money 
in  reserve  as  would  pay  dividends  for  some  time  to  come. 

In  the  face  of  this  extraordinary  prosperity,  it  was  no 
surprise  to  see  the  operatives  threatening  to  strike  if  the 
reduction  should  be  enforced.  Several  large  meetings  of 
the  operatives  were  held  to  protest  against  wages  being  re- 
duced. It  was  ultimately  arranged  for  a  deputation  each  of 
spinners  and  employers  to  meet  the  day  preceding  the  reduc- 
tion going  into  effect,  to  discuss  the  case  on  its  merits.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Spinners'  Association,  with  five  other  spin- 
ners, met  four  of  the  employers.  The  conference  lasted  four 
hours,  and  then  broke  up  without  agreeing  to  anything.  The 
same  night  the  Spinners'  Hall  and  the  stairway  to  it  were 
crowded  with  operatives  desirous  of  knowing  the  result  of 
the  interview.  It  was  stated  at  the  meeting  that  the  em- 
ployers insisted  that  wages  should  be  reduced,  come  what 
might.  After  a  lengthy  and  heated  debate,  a  vote  was  taken 
by  ballot  for  a  strike  or  no  strike,  and  out  of  700  spinners 
310  voted  in  favor  of  striking  and  390  against  it.  A  strike 
was  thus  averted,  and  the  ten  per  cent,  reduction  in  wages 
was  accepted  under  protest.  All  classes  were  delighted  that 
there  was  to  be  no  strike,  and  many  were  the  words  of  praise 
spoken  of  the  officers  of  the  Spinners'  Association,  especially 
of  the  secretary,  as  it  was  generally  admitted  that  a  word 
from  him  could  have  turned  the  meeting  either  way.  An- 
other demand  for  weekly  payments  was  made,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  1882,  out  of  fifty-three  mills  in  Fall  River,  forty 
of  them  were  paying  weekly — a  result  reached  by  the  power 
of  organized  labor. 

About  the  same  time  that  strikes  in  Lawrence  and  Cohoes 
were  progressing,  early  in  1882,  desperate  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Fall  River  Manufacturers'  Board  of  Trade  to 


A   TRAITOR    IN    THE    UNION.  235 

break  up  the  Spinners'  Union.  .  To  accomplish  this  end  it 
was  agreed  to  discharge  and  blacklist  all  the  members  of  the 
committee  and  the  collectors  of  the  Spinners'  Union  fees. 
This  caused  great  indignation  in  the  union,  and  it  was  verv 
remarkable  that  every  member  of  the  committee  was  discov- 
ered and  his  name  put  upon  the  blacklist,  although  these 
members  were  steady,  industrious  men,  and  the  very  best  of 
spinners.  It  was  discovered  about  three  months  after  the 
blacklisting  had  commenced  that  a  spinner  named  Wilkin- 
son, who  came  from  the  town  of  Oldham,  in  England,  was 
attending  the  spinners'  meetings  merely  to  carry  away  to  the 
manufacturers  the  names  of  the  committee  men  and  other 
prominent  members,  for  which  services  he  received  ten  dol- 
lars per  month  in  addition  to  his  wages  for  spinning.  Shortly 
after  Wilkinson  was  discovered  in  his  nefarious  dealings,  his 
goods,  himself  and  family  were  secretly  removed  from  the 
city,  but  to  what  part  of  the  country  it  was  impossible  to  find 
out.  He  was  removed  to  prevent  his  making  a  confession, 
through  the  press,  of  his  treachery. 

It  was  a  trying  time  for  the  Spinners'  Union.  Many  of  its 
members  Were  in  favor  of  striking,  while  the  more  conserva- 
tive were  in  favor  of  supporting  those  who  were  blacklisted, 
until  work  could  be  found  for  them.  The  latter  course  pre- 
vailed, and  they  were  supported  at  the  rate  of  six  dollars  per 
week,  and  fifty  cents  for  their  wives  and  children  not  work- 
ing. Between  two  and  three  thousand  dollars  were  paid  in 
this  way ;  but  the  union  was  preserved,  the  Manufacturers' 
Board  of  Trade  finding  themselves  unable  to  destroy  it.  The 
spinners  who  were  blacklisted  had  to  resort  to  various  schemes 
to  obtain  employment.  Many  of  them  began  work  under  as- 
sumed names,  but  when  discovered  they  were  immediately 
discharged.  The  Board  of  Trade,  in  order  to  checkmate 
those  efforts  of  the  men  to  obtain  employment,  hired  a  clerk, 
commonly  called  a  "  spotter,"  whose  duty  it  was  to  visit  the 
mills  every  month  to  find  out  whether  any  of  the  blacklisted 
men  were  employed.  He  was  furnished  with  all  their  names, 
aliases,  descriptions  and  other  particulars,  and  if  any  of  them 
were  found  working  they  were  instantly  discharged  without 


236  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

any  reasons  being  assigned.  Many  of  the  men  who  were 
blacklisted  had  to  travel  to  districts  where  they  were  un- 
known to  find  employment ;  and  to  the  credit  of  the  Fall 
River  men  it  must  be  said  that  many  of  the  organizations  of 
cotton  operatives  now  springing  into  existence  in  many  parts 
of  the  New  England  States  are  due  in  no  small  degree  to 
their  efforts. 

In  the  fall  of  1882  the  spinners  of  Fall  River,  Lowell,  Law- 
rence, New  Bedford,  Manchester,  Nashua,  Salmon  Falls,  New 
Market,  Lewiston  and  Biddeford,  held  a  conference  in  Cod- 
man  Hall,  Boston,  to  devise  the  best  means  of  bringing  about 
a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  in  the  textile  trade  in  States 
outside  of  Massachusetts.  After  a  whole  day's  session  one 
hundred  dollars  was  voted,  and  Mr.  Howard,  the  secretary, 
was  instructed  to  commence  an  agitation  for  the  furtherance 
of  this  object  in  Rhode  Island  immediately.  Early  in  the 
following  year,  1883,  meetings  were  held  in  Central  Falls, 
Woonsocket,  Rocky  Point,  and  several  other  places,  in  favor 
of  a  law  limiting  the  hours  of  labor  for  all  women  and 
minors  under  eighteen  years  of  age  to  ten  daily.  "Ten-Hour 
Leagues"  were  established,  which  worked  diligently  and 
faithfully,  visiting  the  representatives  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts, soliciting  them  to  vote  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  a  ten- 
hour  bill,  which  was  presented  by  Hon.  Hugh  Carroll,  of 
Pawtucket.  Mr.  Howard  interviewed  Governor  Bourne,  re- 
questing him  to  recommend,  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature, 
a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  for  women  and  children  em- 
ployed in  textile  industries.  His  Excellency  would  not  give 
an  absolute  promise,  yet  when  his  message  was  delivered  it 
contained  the  recommendation.  Mr.  Howard  in  the  same 
year  was  deputed  by  the  Spinners'  Association  to  appear  be- 
fore the  legislative  committee  on  labor  in  Augusta,  Me., 
where  a  hearing  was  being  held  in  the  State  House,  on  a  bill 
proposing  a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  in  textile  indus- 
tries. After  his  return  from  Augusta  he  was  again  sent  to 
Rhode  Island,  where  the  seed  he  had  sown  a  few  months  pre- 
viously was  now  beginning  to  blossom,  The  people  were 
awake,  and  demanded  with  one  voice  to  be  put  on  a  level 


THE    EIGHTEEN    WEEKS'    STRIKE.  237 

with  Massachusetts  in  regard  to  working  hours.  The  first 
year  the  bill  was  defeated ;  but  the  year  following  meetings 
were  held  in  every  village,  town  and  city  in  the  State,  hear- 
ings were  held  in  the  State  House  and  large  numbers  of  oper- 
atives appeared  before  the  committee  to  give  testimony  in  favor 
of  the  ten-hour  bill.  That  year  (1885)  tne  bill  passed  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  received  the  sanction  of  the 
Governor,  and  went  into  force  January  i,  1886.  As  much  as 
the  people  of  Rhode  Island  were  elated  over  this  victory,  they 
were  not  one  whit  more  so  than  the  .spinners  of  Fall  River, 
who,  two  years  after  they  sent  their  secretary  to  that  State  to 
agitate  a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor,  had  the  proud  satis- 
faction of  seeing  a  law  placed  on  the  statute  books  limiting 
the  working  time  for  women  and  children  to  sixty  hours 
weekly. 

From  1882  to  1884,  the  cotton  industry  was  gradually 
growing  worse ;  goods  were  being  piled  up,  and  scarcely 
any  buyers  were  in  the  markets  ;  margins  of  profits  were 
narrowed  down  so  small  that  reductions  in  wages  were 
made  in  Lowell,  Lawrence,  Manchester,  New  Bedford, 
and,  finally,  in  Fall  River.  The  help  in  these  places 
were  very  much  dissatisfied,  and  strongly  remonstrated 
against  their  wages  being  reduced.  In  Fall  River  the  spin- 
ners interviewed  their  respective  treasurers,  and  once  more 
argued  against  the  suicidal  practice  of  reducing  wages,  and 
requested  that  the  working  time  be  reduced  one-third  instead. 
This  proposition  was  laid  before  the  Board  of  Trade,  com- 
posed of  manufacturers,  and  a  reply  was  sent  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Spinners'  Association,  stating  that  wages  would 
be  reduced  first,  and  that  less  working  time  would  be  con- 
sidered after.  The  letter  was  read  to  a  crowded  meeting  of 
spinners,  who  deemed  the  answer  unsatisfactory,  and  a  strike 
was  finally  ordered  at  ten  mills.  The  Spinners'  Union  had 
at  this  time  a  fund  of  over  ten  thousand  dollars  standing  to 
the  credit  of  its  six  hundred  members.  The  spinners  entered 
the  contest  feeling  that  right  and  justice  were  on  their  side. 
They  had  good  reasons  for  thinking  so,  for  the  dividends  de- 
clared by  the  fifty-four  mills  of  Fall  River  averaged  a  shade 


238  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

over  five  per  cent,  for  the  previous  year.  The  strike  began 
on  February  4th,  1884,  and  was  fiercely  contested  for  eight- 
een weeks.  It  then  collapsed  for  the  want  of  funds.  The 
mill-owners  again  imported  the  obnoxious  "knobsticks," 
in  spite  of  their  bitter  experience  in  1879.  The  allowance 
made  the  strikers  was  five  dollars  a  week,  fifty  cents  for  their 
wives  and  twenty-five  cents  for  each  unemployed  child,  while 
the  strike  lasted.  Large  sums  were  sent  from  outside  cities 
to  assist  the  strikers.  The  most  notable  event  of  the  strike 
was  the  burning  of  the  Sagamore  mill,  which  was  one  where 
the  spinners  were  on  strike.  Some  of  the  friends  of  the 
manufacturers  accused  the  strikers  of  setting  fire  to  the  mill ; 
but  after  a  most  thorough  investigation,  not  a  vestige  of  evi- 
dence could  be  obtained  to  fasten  the  crime  upon  them.  The 
probability  was,  that  one  of  the  "knobsticks,"  who  could  do 
as  they  liked,  was  passing  through  the  cotton-room,  smok- 
ing, and  threw  a  lighted  match  into  a  bale  of  cotton,  which 
quickly  took  fire,  spread  with  lightning-like  rapidity  to  the 
other  bales,  causing  the  destruction  of  the  mill. 

The  great  curtailment  in  production  caused  by  the  strike 
did  not  seem  to  help  the  markets  as  much  as  was  anticipated, 
and  shortly  after  its  termination  the  mills  in  Fall  River  began 
to  stop  every  alternate  week  during  the  summer  months,  the 
Lowell  and  New  Bedford  mills  following  the  example.  This 
was  just  the  policy  the  spinners  proposed  before  they  went 
on  strike,  instead  of  reducing  wages.  These  stoppages  cur- 
tailed production  to  the  amount  of  one  million  pieces  of 
cloth.  But  trade  still  remained  dull  and  unprofitable.  In 
January,  1885,  there  being  no  signs  of  a  revival  in  trade, 
the  corporations  of  Lowell  and  New  Bedford  reduced  wages 
again,  which  gave  the  Fall  River  corporations  a  good  excuse 
for  reducing  wages  also.  Only  six  months  after  these  reduc- 
tions, the  mills  all  over  New  England  were  compelled  by 
depressed  markets  to  commence  working  short  time  again ; 
and  in  the  principal  towns  and  cities  of  cotton  manufacture, 
from  eight  to  ten  weeks'  curtailment  of  production  took  place 
in  the  summer  of  1885,  which  kept  more  than  two  million 
pieces  of  goods  out  of  the  market.  This  great  curtailment  of 


CURTAILMENT    OF    PRODUCTION.  239 

production  appeared  to  be  the  right  remedy  for  a  dyspeptic 
market,  which,  for  a  long  time  previously,  had  had  more 
goods  forced  upon  it  than  it  could  unload  at  any  price.  It 
soon  began  to  assume  a  more  healthy  and  profitable  aspect. 
The  policy  of  curtailment  of  production  by  running  less 
hours  was  always  advocated  by  the  textile  organizations, 
because  their  members  knew,  from  close  watching  of  the 
trade,  that  the  policy  which  will  take  from,  not  that  which 
will  add  to,  is  that  which  is  going  to  bring  relief  to  glutted 
markets.  Reducing  the  working  time  lessens  the  delivery 
of  goods,  while  lessening  the  wages,  lessens  the  consump- 
tion of  goods,  owing  to  the  restriction  in  the  purchasing 
powers  of  the  masses,  thus  leading  to  glutted  and  stagnant 
markets.  The  cotton  industry  is  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  nation,  and  no  effort  should  be  spared  by  employers 
and  employees,  who  believe  in  doing  what  is  just  and  right 
by  each  other,  to  settle  disputes  by  some  better  method  than 
that  of  brute  force. 

Over  172,000  people  are  engaged  in  cotton  manufacturing 
in  the  United  States,  who  receive  in  wages  $42,000,000  an- 
nually. It  seems  unwise  and  unbusiness-like  on  the  part  of 
wealthy  corporations,  who  often  allow  their  employees  to  go 
out  on  strike  before  they  will  condescend  to  consult  with  them, 
or  take  a  word  of  advice  from  them.  The  time  is  coming 
when  employers  of  labor  will  find  it  to  their  benefit  to  treat 
with  their  employees  as  equals  on  questions  concerning  the 
welfare  of  both.  Much  of  the  misrepresentation  to  which 
both  of  them  have  been  subjected  in  the  past  has  been  for  the 
want  of  a  better  understanding  between  them ;  and  the  best 
and  the  only  way  to  bring  about  a  better  feeling  and  a  better 
understanding  between  employer  and  employee  is  to  meet 
together  more  frequently  in  friendly  conference.  A  little 
more  of  the  "milk  of  human  kindness"  doled  out  by  employ- 
ers to  employees,  the  substituting  of  arbitration  for  the  present 
methods  of  settling  disputes  would  enable  the  manufacturers 
of  the  United  States  to  hold  the  foremost  place  in  the  great 
commercial  race  now  taking  place  among  the  most  highly 
civilized  and  enterprising  nations  of  the  world. 


240  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

It  would  be  extremely  interesting  to  follow  the  struggles  of 
the  cotton  operatives  in  Lawrence,  Lowell,  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  and  at  'Cohoes,  N.  Y. ;  but  after  all  it  would  be 
mainly  a  repetition  of  the  story  told  of  Fall  River,  with  the 
places,  names  and  dates  changed.  We  will  just  glance  at 
them,  however.  Lowell  saw  an  unsuccessful  strike  in  1874, 
when  seventeen  hundred  dollars  was  sent  the  strikers  from 
Fall  River.  In  1876  there  were  unsuccessful  strikes  at  Arc- 
tic and  Aquidneck,  R.  I.,  and  Clinton  and  New  Bedford, 
Mass.  In  March,  1880,  a  bitterly-contested  strike  began  in 
Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  which  resulted  in  a  ten  per  cent,  advance 
after  ten  weeks  of  idleness.  After  this  strike,  Secretary 
Howard,  of  the  Fall  River  Spinners'  Union,  visited  Cohoes 
and  organized  a  union  there,  but  it  soon  v/ent  to  pieces  by 
reason  of  blacklisting.  In  1882  there  was  a  great  strike  in 
Lawrence  against  a  twenty  per  cent,  reduction  at  the  Pacific 
Mills,  which  had  paid  out  $9,525,000  in  dividends,  equal 
to  381  per  cent,  on  its  capital  in  the  nineteen  years  pre- 
vious, and  had  also  increased  its  capital  from  $2,500,000  to 
$5,000,000.  Public  sympathy  through  the  city  and  State 
was  with  the  operatives,  but  they  were  finally  starved  into 
surrender.  Contemporaneous  with  this  strike  was  another, 
but  unsuccessful  one,  at  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  against  a  ten  per 
cent,  reduction.  These  strikes  cost  the  corporations  immense 
amounts,  even  though  they  finally  carried  their  point. 

[In  the  chapter  devoted  to  miscellaneous  trades  some  ac- 
count is  given  of  the  organizations  existing  in  the  wool,  flax 
and  silk  industries. — EDITOR.] 


CHAPTER    X. 

COAL    MINERS. 

DIFFICULTIES  OP  ORGANIZATION  —  FARM  LABORERS  AS  MINERS  —  FIRST 
ORGANIZATION,  1857  —  ADDRESS  OF  DANIEL  WEAVER  —  NATIONAL 
MINERS'  ASSOCIATION,  1861 — FIRST  MINERS'  PAPER  —  MINERS'  ANO 
LABORERS'  BENEVOLENT  ASSOCIATION  — JOHN  SINEY  AS  AN  ORGAN- 
IZER —  EFFECT  OF  THE  PANIC  OF  1873  —  REPEATED  STRIKES  AND 
DEFEATS  —  ARREST  OF  JOHN  SINEY  AND  TWENTY-SEVEN  OTHERS  — 
THE  UNION  DEMORALIZED  —  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF 
LABOR  —  ITS  RAPID  EXTENSION  AMONG  MINERS  —  SUCCESSFUL  STRIKE 
IN  PITTSBURGH  DISTRICT  —  PIT  COMMITTEES  —  MOVEMENT  FOR  FORT- 
NIGHTLY PAYMENTS,  EIGHT  HOURS  AND  ABOLITION  OF  COMPANY 
STORES  —  OHIO  MINERS'  AMALGAMATED  ASSOCIATION,  1882  —  NA- 
TIONAL CONVENTION  AT  INDIANAPOLIS  —  ORGANIZATION  OF  NATIONAL 
FEDERATION  OF  MINERS  AND  MINE  LABORERS  —  ITS  OBJECTS — ARBI- 
TRATION ATTEMPTED. 

THE  coal  miners  of  the  United  States  are,  perhaps,  more 
generally  misunderstood  than  any  class  of  laborers  in 
the  world.  Whenever  they  have  undertaken  any  step  for 
their  industrial  advancement  it  has  been  in  the  face  of  an 
adverse  public  opinion,  which  has  been  taught  to  regard  them, 
as  almost  beyond  the  pale  of  well-ordered  civilization.  They 
have  thus  failed  to  receive  the  moral  encouragement  and  sup- 
port which  has  sustained  and  assisted  other  wage-workers, 
especially  in  their  later  contests. 

But  this,  serious  as  it  may  be,  is  merely  external.  Among 
themselves  and  in  the  conditions  of  their  work  and  life,  the 
miners  have  had  many  internal  difficulties  to  contend  with  — 
difficulties  which  have  stood  in  the  way  of  organization  and 
united  action.  Scattered  in  remote  districts, — frequently 
many  miles  away  from  the  towns,  —  and  shut  off  almost  en- 
tirely from  all  social  intercourse,  the  opportunities  for  the 
interchange  of  ideas  and  the  upbuilding  of  compact,  service- 
able organizations  have  necessarily  been  slight.  Nor  is  this 
all.  The  coal  miner  has  been  of  necessity  a  bird  of  passage. 

(24I)  06) 


242  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Different  seasons  have  found  him  in  different  localities,  as  the 
opportunities  for  work  has  offered.  Coal  which  depends  on 
river  transportation  must  be  mined  in  the  spring  and  fall, 
while  that  transported  by  the  lakes  is  confined  to  summer,  and 
only  domestic  coal  can  be  operated  during  the  winter.  These 
conditions  have  been  serious  obstacles  to  the  miners  in  the 
labor  movement  in  two  ways :  first,  because  they  have  con- 
tributed much  to  injure  the  reputation  of  miners  for  thrift  and 
stability  as  a  class  ;  and,  second,  because  they  have  had  a 
tendency  to  disrupt  local  organizations  and  injure  their  effi- 
ciency. It  is,  however,  the  first  of  these  two  evils  that  the 
miners  have  most  deplored.  They  have  felt  deeply  the  injus- 
tice of  the  prejudice  existing  against  them.  They  trace  it  to 
the  corporations  that  employ  them,  whose  interest  it  has  some- 
times been  to  represent  them  as  a  class  of  shiftless  laborers, 
careless  of  their  habits  and  reputation.  These  ideas  have 
been  sent  out  especially  in  times  of  strikes,  the  newspaper 
accounts  often  giving  them  free  circulation.  The  public  has 
formed  its  estimate  of  the  miners'  character  upon  the  basis 
of  these  unjust  assertions,  which  have  taken  on  a  color  of 
truthfulness  from  the  unfortunate  circumstances  arising  out 
of  the  conditions  of  their  life.  The  miner  has  felt  that  he 
could  get  no  fair  presentation  of  his  grievances  in  the  news- 
papers, and  that  his  unequal  battle  must  always  be  fought 
in  the  face  of  these  difficulties.  The  advent  of  labor  news- 
papers has  done  much  to  change  this  aspect  of  the  case,  how- 
ever, and  gradually  the  public  has  been  made  to  see  this  great 
body  of  industrious  men  in  a  fair  light. 

There  have  been  other  difficulties  in  the  way  of  organiza- 
tion, wholly  outside  of  and  beyond  the  prejudice  we  have 
noled,  and  the  unfavorable  effect  of  the  seasons  on  mining 
operations.  One  of  the  most  serious  of  these  has  been  the 
employment  of  farm-hands  in  the  mines  during  the  winter 
season.  This  practice  has  introduced  an  element  of  labor 
which  had  nothing  to  gain  by  such  organizations  as  the 
skilled  miners  were  striving  to  build  up.  It  was  an  ele- 
ment which  had  no  interest  in  the  permanent  welfare  of  the 
miners  as  a  class.  To  them  it  was  of  little  consequence 


EARLY    ORGANIZATIONS    OF    MINERS.  243 

whether  the  wages  were  high  or  low.  Employment  in  the 
mines  was  not  their  chief  dependence.  They  earned  their 
living  by  farming,  and  such  few  dollars  as  they  could  realize 
in  the  winter  were  so  much  additional  income.  They  were 
not  experts,  and  their  occasional  presence  among  the  miners 
furnished  the  employers  with  a  pretext  for  keeping  the  wages 
at  the  lowest  point  at  which  men  could  exist.  The  effect  of 
this  unnatural  element  of  competition  on  the  efforts  at  labor 
organization  can  be  readily  understood.  That  the  farm- 
hands were  regarded  and  treated  as  interlopers  coming  be- 
tween the  hard-working  miners  and  their  just  rights,  was  not 
much  to  be  wondered  at. 

In  spite  of  these  manifold  difficulties,  the  coal-miners  of  the 
United  States  finally  began  the  work  of  organization  on  such 
a  scale  that  it  could  not  be  longer  delayed  or  defeated.  It 
was  not  until  this  organization  was  well  under  way,  that 
they  encountered  the  last  obstacle  which  the  employers  had 
to  place  in  their  path,  and  this  was  of  only  temporary  and 
local  consequence.  This  was  the  policy,  steadily  pursued  by 
the  corporations,  of  eliminating  the  leaders  from  the  ranks  of 
the  miners  by  offering  them  good  salaries  as  superintendents. 
The  plan  worked  successfully  in  some  localities,  and  many 
men,  now  the  bosses  of  mines,  owe  their  positions  to  the 
prominent  part  they  played  in  the  early  history  of  the  organi- 
zation. It  is  a  matter  of  pride,  however,  that  some  of  the 
strongest  and  ablest  leaders  were  neither  to  be  bought, 
cajoled,  or  driven,  and  that  through  them  the  organizations 
so  long  desired  were  finally  built  up. 

In  the  early  history  of  mining  organization  the  trade  was 
confined  to  a  few  States,  the  anthracite  regions  and  the 
river  coal,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  Pittsburgh  district,  and  the 
block  coal  of  the  Chenango  Valley  being  the  most  promi- 
nent. Pennsylvania,  the  Mahoning  and  Tuscarawas  Valleys, 
Salineville,  Yellow  Creek  and  the  Ohio  river  in  Ohio,  and 
eastern  and  northeastern  Illinois,  comprising  Will,  Grundy, 
Lasalle  and  other  counties,  and  the  Belleville  tract,  and  East- 
ern Missouri  and  Maryland.  The  later  efforts  took  in  more 
territory  in  Pennsylvania,  consisting  of  the  Bartley  mountains 


244  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

andTioga,  Huntingdon,  Clearfield,  Jefferson,  and  other  coun- 
ties. The  great  Hocking  Valley  and  its  surrounding  terri- 
tory, Guernsey,  Jackson,  and  several  other  counties  in  Ohio, 
were  also  interested.  The  whole  State  of  Indiana,  part  of 
Michigan,  more  extended  fields  in  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa, 
Kansas,  Colorado,  and  the  far  Western  territories,  the  Vir- 
ginias, old  and  west,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  the  Southern 
coal  fields  generally  joined  in  the  movement.  The  present 
efforts  that  are  being  made  embrace  every  coal  field  in  the 
country. 

The  earliest  efforts  that  we  can  learn  of  organization  were 
about  1857  or  1858;  but  as  far  as  we  learn  the  efforts  were 
confined  to  districts  alone.  The  condition  of  the  trade  at  that 
time  was  such  that  it  could  easily  be  controlled  by  such  or- 
ganizations, without  calling  for  assistance  from  other  districts, 
as  each  at  that  time  had  its  own  exclusive  markets  and 
competition  from  the  others  was  out  of  the  question.  For  this 
reason  no  efforts  were  made  by  the  leaders  at  that  time  to 
draw  closer  together  by  general  organization,  and  they  only 
lasted  for  a  short  time. 

The  first  attempt  at  national  organization  was  made  on  the 
Belleville  Track,  Illinois,  in  January,  1861.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1860,  Daniel  Weaver,  Thomas  Lloyd,  and  several 
others  got  together  and  talked  up  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from,  and  the  actual  necessity  for,  the  general  organiza- 
tion, and  the  result  was  the  following  address,  prefaced  by 
Mackay's  poem,  "What  Might  Be  Done?"  and  signed  by 
D.  W.  :- 

The  necessity  of  an  association  of  miners,  and  of  those  branches  of  indus- 
try immediately  connected  with  mining  operations,  having  for  its  objects  the 
physical,  mental  and  social  elevation  of  the  miner,  has  long  been  felt  by  the 
thinking  portion  of  miners  generally. 

Union  is  the  great  fundamental  principle  by  which  every  object  of  impor- 
tance is  to  be  accomplished.  Man  is  a  social  being,  and  if  left  to  himself,  in 
an  isolated  condition,  would  be  one  of  the  weakest  creatures;  but,  associated 
with  his  kind,  he  works  wonders.  Men  can  do  jointly  what  they  cannot  do 
singly ;  and  the  UNION  of  minds  and  hands,  the  concentration,  of  their  power, 
becomes  almost  omnipotent.  Nor  is  this  all ;  men  not  only  accumulate  power 
by  union,  but  gain  warmth  and  earnestness.  There  is  an  electric  sympathy 
kindled,  and  the  attractive  forces  inherent  in  human  nature  are  called  into. 


FIRST    NATIONAL    ORGANIZATION.  245 

action,  and  a  stream  of  generous  emotion,  of  a  friendly  regard  for  each  other, 
binds  together  and  animates  the  whole. 

If  men  would  spread  one  set  of  opinions,  or  crush  another,  they  make  a  so- 
ciety. Would  they  improve  the  sanitary  condition  of  our  towns,  light  our 
streets  with  gas,  or  supply  our  dwellings  with  water,  they  form  societies. 
From  the  organization  of  our  armies,  our  railroad  and  banking  companies, 
down  through  every  minute  ramification  of  society  to  trades'  associations  and 
sick  societies,  men  have  learned  the  power  and  efficiency  of  co-operation, 
and  are,  therefore,  determined  to  stand  by  each  other.  How  long,  then,  will 
miners  remain  isolated  —  antagonistic  to  each  other?  Does  it  not  behoove 
us,  as  miners,  to  use  every  means  to  elevate  our  position  in  society,  by  a 
reformation  of  character,  "by  obliterating  all  personal  animosities  and  frivo- 
lous nationalities,  abandoning  our  pernicious  habits  and  degrading  pursuits, 
and  striving  for  the  attainment  of  pure  and  high  principles  and  generous 
motives,  which  will  fat  us  to  bear  a  manly,  useful  and  honorable  part  in  the 
world?  Our  unity  is  essential  to  the  attainment  of  our  own  rights  and  the 
amelioration  of  our  present  condition  ;  and  our  voices  must  be  heard  in  the 
legislative  halls  of  our  land.  There  it  is  that  our  complaints  must  be  made 
and  our  rights  defined.  The  insatiable  maw  of  Capital  would  devour  every 
vestige  of  Labor's  rights ;  but  we  must  demand  legislative  protection  ;  and  to 
accomplish  this,  we  must  organize.  Our  remedy,  our  safety,  our  protection, 
our  dearest  interests,  and  the  social  well-being  of  our  families,  present  and 
future,  depend  on  our  Unity,  our  duty,  and  our  regard  for  each  other. 

In  laying  before  you,  therefore,  the  objects  of  this  association,  we  desire  it 
to  be  understood  that  our  objects  are  not  merely  pecuniary,  but  to  mutually 
instruct  and  improve  each  other  in  knowledge,  which  is  power;  to  study  the 
laws  of  life;  the  relation  of  Labor  to  Capital;  politics,  municipal  affairs,  lit- 
erature, science,  or  any  other  subject  relating  to  the  general  welfare  of  our 
class.  Has  not  experience  and  observation  taught  us  what  one  of  the  pro- 
foundest  thinkers  of  the  present  day  has  said,  that  "All  human  interests,  and 
combined  human  endeavors,  and  social  growth  in  this  world,  have,  at  certain 
stages  of  their  developments,  required  organizing;  and  Labor  —  the  grandest 
of  human  interests  —  requires  it  now.  There  must  be  an  organization  of 
Labor;  to  begin  with  it  straightway,  to  proceed  with  it,  and  succeed  in  it 
more  and  more."  One  of  America's  immortals  said,  "To  me  there  is  no 
East,  no  West,  no  North,  no  South,"  and  I  would  say,  Let  there  be  no  En- 
glish, no  Irish,  Germans,  Scotch,  or  Welsh.  This  is  our  country,  and  — 

"All  men  are  brethren  —  how  the  watch-words  run  ! 
And  when  men  act  as  such  is  justice  won." 

Come,  then,  and  rally  around  the  standard  of  Union — the  union  of  States 
and  the  unity  of  miners  —  and  with  honesty  of  purpose,  zeal  and  watchful- 
ness—  the  pledge  of  success  —  unite  for  the  emancipation  of  our  labor,  and 
the  regeneration  and  elevation  physically,  mentally  and  morally,  of  our 
species. 

Yours,  on  behalf  of  the  miners,  D.  W. 

The  result  of  this  address  was  that  on  the  28th  of  January, 
1 86 1,  a  convention  was  held,  consisting  of  representatives  of 


246  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

miners  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  the  association  known 
as  the  "American  Miners'  Association"  was  established,  and 
Daniel  Weaver  was  elected  president,  and  Thomas  Lloyd  sec- 
retary. A  constitution  and  laws  were  adopted  and  printed. 
The  leaders  felt  strongly  their  utter  helplessness  without  or- 
ganization, and  the  following  verse,  quoted  at  the  head  of  the 
constitution  of  this  association  well  expresses  the  sentiment 
which  ran  through  all  their  earlier  records  :  — 

Step  by  step,  the  longest  march 

Can  be  won,  can  be  won ; 
Single  stones  will  form  an  arch 

One  by  one,  one  by  one. 
And  by  union,  what  we  will 
Can  be  all  accomplished  still. 
Drops  of  water  turn  a  mill, 

Singly  none,  singly  none. 

The  preamble  sets  forth  :  — 

The  working  miners  are,  in  the  prosecution  of  their  labors,  subjected  to 
manifold  dangers  from  explosions  and  insecure  roofs ;  also  from  fire-damps 
and  other  noxious  gases,  the  result  of  imperfect  ventilation,  as  well  as  to 
accidents  arising  from  other  causes  consequent  upon  the  parsimony  of  em- 
ployers, whose  objects  would  seem  to  be  the  increase  of  the  volume  of  their 
capital,  without  reference  to  the  fearful  loss  of  life,  limb  and  health,  which  is 
the  cause  of  such  increase,  etc. 

The  time  for  organization  had  come  at  last.  The  constitu- 
tion provided  for  the  formation  of  members  into  lodges,  lodges 
to  form  districts,  all  of  which  were  under  the  supervision  of 
a  general  board  of  directors  or  trustees,  who,  besides  exer- 
cising general  supervision,  represented  the  association  in  its 
corporate  capacity.  The  general  board  consisted  of  one 
president,  vice-president,  financial  secretary,  corresponding 
secretary  and  treasurer,  and  one  delegate  from  each  lodge  in 
the  association,  who  were  elected  annually  by  the  lodges. 
The  general  officers  were  elected  by  the  delegates,  and  held 
their  positions  two  years,  or  until  their  successors  should  be 
elected  and  qualified.  They  were  to  meet  once  a  year,  unless 
a  majority  of  the  lodges  determined  to  call  a  special  meeting 
of  the  board.  Delegates  were  allowed  a  vote  for  every  twenty 
members  they  represented.  This,  in  brief,  was  the  form  in 


AMERICAN  MINERS'  ASSOCIATION.  247 

which  the  miners  finally  developed  their  first  national  organi- 
zation. 

Daniel  Weaver,  who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  organiza- 
tion, was  an  Englishman,  raised  in  the  mines,  and  an  old 
settler  in  the  mining  region  of  the  Belleville  Tract,  to  which 
we  owe  the  first  national  association.  He  was,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  self-educated.  The  language  of  his  address  be- 
trays the  fact  that  he  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  Chartist 
movement  in  England,  which  may,  indeed,  have  hurried  his 
departure.  At  the  time  of  organizing  the  American  miners 
he  was  ripening  in  years,  and  was  a  deep  thinker,  logical  rea- 
soner,  forcible  in  expression,  and  a  plain,  energetic  speaker, 
who  brought  convictions  to  the  minds  of  those  listening  to 
him.  Under  his  guidance  the  organization  could  not  fail  of 
success. 

Weaver  was  ably  assisted  in  his  work  by  Thomas  Lloyd, 
a  Welshman,  who  came  to  this  country  after  reaching  man- 
hood, and  settled  on  the  Belleville  Tract.  He,  also,  was 
a  man  of  mature  years,  an  energetic  worker  and  a  forcible 
speaker,  and  was  the  chief  support  of  Weaver  in  getting  the 
organization  established.  When  the  organization  was  estab- 
lished an  Irishman  named  Martin  Burke  became  one  of  the 
most  active^  eloquent,  and  successful  organizers.  These  three 
men  were  ably  assisted  by  a  German  named  Roeser,  who  or- 
ganized and  brought  into  the  fold  all  the  German  miners  in 
and  around  that  district.  Foreigners,  it  will  be  seen,  were 
the  organizers  and  officers  of  the  first  American  association 
of  miners.  These  leaders  finally  gave  place  to  younger  men. 
Immediately  after  the  perfecting  of  the  organization,  a  tailor 
by  the  name  of  John  Hinchcliffe  started  a  paper  called  The 
Weekly  Miner,  which  was  recognized  as  the  official  organ ; 
and  so  great  was  his  influence  that  if  any  member  was  be- 
hind in  his  subscription  he  could  not  get  a  clearance  card  from 
his  lodge.  Mr.  HinchclifFe  was  afterwards  elected  president 
of  the  association.  He  then  read  law  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  In  1871  the  miners  elected  him  to  the  Legislature, 
where  he  introduced  a  law  for  the  proper  ventilation  of  the 
mines.  In  1873  he  was  chosen  State  Senator.  He  died  re- 


248  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

cently,  enjoying  the  full  confidence  of  the  leaders  and  miners 
generally. 

The  American  Miners'  Association  was  not  long  confined 
to  the  Belleville  Tract  and  Missouri.  It  made  rapid  strides 
eastward.  Braidwood  and  La  Salle  were  soon  organized 
into  districts.  In  March,  1863,  a  district  was  formed  in  the 
Tuscarawas  Valley,  under  the  name  of  Massillon  Miners' 
Association.  The  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the  Massillon 
Society  were  very  elaborate,  and  provided  for  the  regulation 
of  work  in  the  mines,  and  the  careful  government  of  the  asso- 
ciation. A  careful  examination  of  the  constitutions  of  the 
various  associations  shows  us  that  each  was  in  itself  a  gen- 
eral organization,  though  nominally  a  branch  of  the  Belle- 
ville headquarters. 

The  history  of  this  association,  for  the  few  years  following 
that  convention,  was  almost  identical  with  that  of  every  dis- 
trict. Internal  dissensions  set  in  among  the  officers.  The 
result  was  that  with  the  strikes  of  1867  and  1868,  the  as- 
sociation went  down  all  over  the  country,  and  the  American 
Miners'  Association  passed  into  history.  In  1869,  or  the 
early  part  of  1870,  efforts  were  made  to  revive  it  under  the 
old  constitution,  which  was  done  in  some  localities ;  but  the 
efforts  were  spasmodic,  and  availed  little. 

In  January,  1871,  a  convention  was  held  at  Bloomington, 
111.,  which  organized  the  Illinois  Miners'  Benevolent  and 
Protective  Association,  providing  that  five  dollars  a  week  be 
paid  to  members  while  disabled  from  accident  in  the  mines, 
or  while  doing  business  for  the  association,  and  forty  dollars 
were  paid  on  the  death  of  a  member.  It  did  not  long  exist. 

In  the  anthracite  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  the  first  organi- 
zation that  attracted  national  attention  and  became  of  national 
importance  was  the  Miners'  and  Laborers'  Benevolent  Asso- 
ciation, better  known  to  miners  of  the  present  day  by  its 
initials,  M.  &  L.  B.  A.  This  was  organized  in  Schuylkill 
County,  and  soon  spread  to  western  Pennsylvania,  and,  about 
the  time  the  American  went  down,  this  took  its  place  among 
the  miners  of  Ohio.  It  took  in  men  of  every  trade  employed 
in  and  around  the  mines.  The  local  lodges  were  called  sub- 


JOHN    SINEY,    ORGANIZER.  249 

ordinate;  the  District,  Grand;  the  State,  Grand  Council;  the 
National,  Right  Worthy  Grand  Council  of  the  United  States. 

These  names  were  taken  from  the  constitution  of  Ohio,  but 
in  this,  as  in  the  American,  while  the  Grand  Council  of  the 
United  States  is  spoken  of,  there  was  no  provision  made  for 
the  recognition  of  it  or  its  officers,  or  support  to  be  given  to 
it.  Thus,  again,  each  State  or  territory  was  a  general  or- 
ganization in  itself  making  no  provision  for  representation  in, 
or  support  of,  a  higher  body.  But  at  this  time  the  States  were 
well  able  to  care  for  their  own  trade,  and,  though  no  provision 
was  made,  a  mutual  understanding  existed  between  the  States 
for  voluntary  support  and  encouragement  to  each  other. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  organizations  which  had  gone  before 
it,  the  constitution  of  this  association  was  carefully  drawn,  and 
provided  elaborate  rules  for  the  government  of  the  members 
and  the  attainment  of  the  ends  desired.  Its  objects  were 
strictly  in  the  line  of  its  comprehensive  name. 

This  association  was  the  strongest  the  miners  ever  had 
in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Maryland  and  Indiana,  though  the 
miners  of  Illinois  and  the  Western  States  did  not  organize 
under  it.  Their  own  was  so  near  like  it  that  cards  were 
exchanged  and  accepted  between  them.  From  the  time  the 
association  was  organized  and  took  the  place  of  the  American, 
it  flourished  with  varying  success  until  finally  it  was  absorbed 
by  the  National  Association  of  Miners,  organized  at  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio,  October  14,  1873. 

It  was  the  Miners'  and  Laborers'  Benevolent  Association 
that  brought  the  late  John  Siney  to  the  front  and  proved  him 
a  successful  organizer,  although  his  services  in  it  were  mostly 
confined  to  the  anthracite  regions.  It  lived  through  the  long 
and  bitter  strikes  of  1869  and  1870,  and  in  1872  it  existed  in 
all  or  nearly  all  the  bituminous  coal  fields,  and  in  Schuylkill 
and  several  other  counties  of  the  anthracite  coal  fields  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Maryland,  while 
in  Ohio  there  was  not  a  coal  field  but  was  covered  with 
lodges.  Indiana  was  well  organized,  as  were  also  the  coal 
fields  of  Michigan,  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky.  The 
Western  States,  as  before  stated,  although  not  under  it,  were 


25O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

fairly  organized,  so  that  it  might  be  said  that  the  miners  of 
America  were  better  organized  in  the  spring  of  1872  than 
they  ever  were  before  or  since,  up  to  the  time  the  present 
National  Federation  of  Miners  and  Mine  Laborers  was  or- 
ganized at  Indianapolis,  September  12,  1885. 

In  1873  new  conditions  were  apparent  in  the  coal  trade. 
Prices  were  falling,  new  fields  were  being  opened,  railroads 
were  extending,  and  competitors  were  being  drawn  more 
closely  together  in  general  markets.  The  miners  saw  in 
this  changing  situation  the  need  of  a  new  form  of  organiza- 
tion, and  in  September,  1873,  in  response  to  a  call  issued  by 
the  officers  in  various  States  and  districts,  a  convention  assem- 
bled at  Youngstown,  Ohio,  and  organized  the  Miners'  Na- 
tional Association.  It  was  at  this  point  that  John  Siney 
came  prominently  upon  the  stage.  He  was  chosen  presi- 
dent, with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  month  and 
traveling  expenses.  John  James,  of  Illinois,  was  chosen 
secretary  ;  George  Archibald,  of  Pittsburgh,  vice-president, 
and  David  M.  Davis,  of  Mineral  Ridge,  Ohio,  treasurer. 
Headquarters  were  established  at  Cleveland.  Four  nation- 
alities were  represented  in  the  chief  officers  of  the  associa- 
tion. 

The  association  started  with  good  prospects  and  a  large 
membership,  fully  sufficient  to  pay  salaries  of  officers  and  all 
running  expenses.  But  the  panic  of  October  of  that  year 
blighted  its  prospects  somewhat,  and  the  strikes  of  1874  re- 
tarded the  growth  of  the  organization.  Nevertheless,  Siney 
and  the  general  officers  persevered,  and  with  assistance  of  the 
representatives  to  the  Youngstown  convention,  and  the  officers 
of  the  local  and  district  organizations  already  in  existence, 
the  work  progressed  favorably.  At  the  second  annual  con- 
vention, held  at  Cleveland,  O.,  October  27th  to  29th,  1874, 
there  were  present  thirty-eight  delegates,  representing  224 
lodges  and  branches  in  seven  States  and  one  Territory.  The 
total  membership  then  numbered  21,200.  At  this  convention 
provision  was  made  for  the  publication  of  an  official  paper, 
known  as  the  The  Miners'  National  Record.  It  enjoyed  a 
brief  but  useful  existence.  In  1874  tne  Schuylkill  branch  of 


STRIKES    AND    ARRESTS.  251 

the  Miners'  and  Laborers'  Benevolent  Association  carried  its 
twelve  hundred  members  into  the  national  organization,  and, 
though  the  Belleville  people  were  not  wholly  in  sympathy  with 
this  policy,  there  was  a  general  movement  in  the  same  direc- 
tion everywhere  among  the  miners'  organizations. 

The  year  1875  saw  the  Miners'  National  Association  in  the 
zenith  of  its  power.  The  same  year  witnessed  a  crisis  in  the 
affairs  of  all  the  organizations.  It  brought  anxiety  and  grief 
to  the  heart  of  John  Siney  and  his  brave  colleagues,  who  put 
forth  every  effort  to  check  the  disintegration  going  on  around 
them.  As  the  organizations  waned,  wages  fell,  and  they  have 
yet  to  be  restored  to  the  standard  then  lost.  Everywhere 
there  were  strikes,  and  nearly  everywhere  defeats.  The 
arrest  of  Siney,  Parks,  and  twenty-six  others,  in  May,  in 
the  Clearfield  region,  had  a  very  dampening  effect  upon  or- 
ganization all  over  the  country,  and  particularly  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Some  of  them  were  sentenced  to  one  year  in  the 
penitentiary,  with  twenty-five  dollars  fine ;  more  got  off  with 
six  months'  imprisonment  and  a  fine.  Siney  and  Parks  were 
put  under  five  hundred  dollars  bail  to  appear  at  the  following 
September  court,  when  Siney  was  acquitted  and  Parks  sen- 
tenced one  year  to  the  penitentiary  and  one  dollar  fine.  By 
the  fall  of  that  year  every  district  was  demoralized. 

About  this  time  the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was 
spreading  rapidly  among  the  miners,  and  early  in  1875  some 
of  the  lodges  were  organized  into  local  assemblies  of  that 
Order.  The  trial  of  the  Osceola  men  had  the  effect  of  driv- 
ing men  to  secret  organization,  and  in  the  winter  of  1875  anc^ 
1876,  such  was  the  excitement  in  the  Pittsburgh  district, 
along  the  rivers  and  railways,  that  a  man  must  have  been 
dull  indeed  not  to  know  that  some  kind  of  a  secret  organi- 
zation was  being  organized,  and  very  rapidly,  too,  though 
nothing  could  be  really  found  out  about  it.  Miners  organ- 
ized very  generally  into  it  for  a  while,  in  localities,  but  as  it 
never  seemed  to  show,  on  the  surface,  of  anything  being  done 
to  raise  the  price  of  mining,  they  fell  off  about  as  rapidly  as 
they  organized ;  but  on  going  to  other  places,  they  carried 
it  along  with  them,  thus  keeping  up  a  steady  growth  of  the 


252  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

order  among  the  miners,  though  it  never  reached  sufficient 
force  to  make  its  power  felt  by  any  concerted  action,  —  Mary- 
land, of  all  the  States,  making  an  effort  to  organize  the 
miners  thoroughly  into  the  order.  The  years  1877  and  1878 
passed  without  any  success  at  organization,  although  sev- 
eral conventions  were  held  in  Ohio,  and  organizations  were 
started,  but  they  went  down  without  getting  established,  as 
the  spirit  of  lethargy  and  indifference  seemed  to  have  con- 
trol of  miners  generally.  It  remained  thus  until  the  winter 
of  1878  and  1879,  when  miners  along  the  Monongahela 
and  Youghiogheny  Rivers,  of  the  Pittsburgh  district,  with 
District  Assembly  No.  9,  as  a  nucleus  of  an  organization, 
determined  to  ask  for  an  advance  in  the  price  of  mining 
when  the  spring  run  opened.  They  were  out  several  weeks 
to  enforce  their  demand,  and  were  about  to  go  to  work  with- 
out it,  when  some  information  imparted  to  them  by  D.  R. 
Jones,  who  was  then  reading  law  in  Pittsburgh,  and  had 
overheard  it  from  the  Coal  Exchange,  caused  them  to  hold 
out  long  enough  to  get  the  increase  demanded. 

This  success  emboldened  them,  and  they  at  once  made  up 
their  minds  to  put  some  one  in  the  field  to  look  after  their 
interests.  As  the  miners  of  Haye's  Six-mile  ferry  had  taken 
Jones  from  the  school  he  was  teaching  and  more  than  doubled 
his  salarv  to  check  weigh  for  them,  the  miners  took  him  up, 
as  the  most  available  man  for  them,  and  made  him  president, 
to  look  after  their  interest.  They  had  no  regular  form  of 
organization  except  through  pit  committees,  who  elected  a 
president  and  secretary  from  their  number. 

The  position  which  Mr.  Jones  was  called  to  occupy  was 
one  of  extraordinary  power  and  responsibility.  Established 
in  his  headquarters  at  Pittsburgh,  he  had  neither  secretary, 
treasurer,  nor  executive  committee  to  consult.  He  was  ac- 
countable to  no  one.  Each  miner  paid  him  five  cents  a  month 
for  his  services,  and  he  ran  the  office  as  he  pleased.  The 
association  prospered  amazingly  under  his  management,  and 
was  an  example  and  an  inspiration  to  other  miners  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  The  success  of  the  Pittsburgh  experiment 
aroused  them  to  action.  They  met  in  that  city  in  March, 


NATIONAL    FEDERATION.  253 

1880,  and  decided  to  make  a  concerted  move  for  "uniform,  or 
no  screen  work,  fortnightly  payments,  eight  hours'  work,  and 
the  abolition  of  company  stores."  August  i,  1880,  was  fixed 
upon  as  the  date  on  which  the  decisive  step  should  be  taken. 
The  ist  of  August  found  the  miners  of  the  Tuscarawas 
Valley  and  of  Salineville  prepared  for  the  struggle.  The 
former  stood  out  for  nine  months  and  the  latter  four  months  ; 
but,  being  unassisted  and  unsupported  by  the  other  bodies> 
the  strike  was  a  failure. 

A  call  issued  for  a  meeting  of  delegates  at  Columbus,  April 
22,  1882,  resulted  in  a  large  representation  of  the  miners,  and 
the  formation  of  the  Ohio  Miners' Amalgamated  Association. 
This  organization  has  proven  a  great  success,  having  been 
tried  and  proved  by  the  fire  of  experience.  In  the  fall  of 
1882,  Mr.  Jones  retired  from  the  management  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh association,  which  was  then  thoroughly  organized  on 
a  new  basis. 

During  1883  and  1884  the  miners  became  aware  of  impor- 
tant developments  in  the  coal  trade,  which  they  foresaw  must, 
sooner  or  later,  have  a  serious  effect  on  their  wages.  Rail- 
roads and  telegraphs  had  annihilated  space  and  time  until  the 
East  was  no  longer  the  market  of  Eastern  coal-fields,  nor  the 
West  of  those  in  its  section.  The  same  was  true  of  the  North 
and  South.  Competition  entered  fiercely  into  the  price  of  coal, 
and  wages  were  endangered  as  never  before.  At  the  same 
time  electricity  and  natural  gas  had  come  in  to  reduce  the  de- 
mand in  that  direction,  and  improved  machinery  had  devel- 
oped a  tendency  to  reduce  the  demand  for  manufacturing 
purposes.  In  view  of  these  facts  the  leaders  issued  a  call 
for  a  great  national  convention,  to  be  held  at  Indianapolis, 
September  12,  1885.  The  representatives  of  every  form  of 
coal  miners'  organizations  were  invited  to  be  present.  Out 
of  this  convention  came  forth  the  present  great  association, 
known  to  the  country  as  the  National  Federation  of  Miners 
and  Mine  Laborers  of  the  United  States  and  Territories. 
This  memorable  convention  was  called  to  order  by  J.  J. 
Sullivan,  of  Iowa.  John  McBride,  of  Ohio,  was  made  tem- 
porary chairman,  and  permanent  officers  were  elected  as 


254  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

follows :  President,  Daniel  McLaughlin,  of  Illinois ;  Secre- 
tary, J.  B.  Fleming,  of  West  Virginia ;  Assistant  Secretary, 
J.  J.  Sullivan,  of  Iowa;  Executive  Secretary,  Christopher 
Evans,  New  Straitville,  Ohio ;  Treasurer,  Daniel  McLaugh- 
lin, Braidwood,  111.  The  Executive  Board  consisted  of  Chris- 
topher Evans,  Ohio  ;  Daniel  McLaughlin,  Illinois  ;  John  H. 
Davis,  Pennsylvania;  J.  B.  Fleming,  West  Virginia;  J.  J. 
Sullivan,  Iowa.  Members  at  large  :  George  Harris,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  John  McBride,  Ohio ;  David  Ross,  Illinois ;  Patrick 
McAdams,  Indiana;  T.  P.  Gray,  West  Virginia;  A.  M. 
Reid,  Iowa ;  James  Smith,  Kansas. 

The  purpose  of  the  organization  is  well  stated  in  the  fol- 
lowing preamble  to  the  constitution  : — 

As  miners  and  mine  laborers,  our  troubles  are  everywhere  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. The  inexorable  law  of  supply  and  demand  determin^  the  point  where 
our  interests  unite.  The  increased  shipping  facilities  of  the  last  few  years 
have  made  all  coal-producing  districts  competitors  in  the  markets  of  this 
country.  This  has  led  to  indiscriminate  cutting  of  market  prices  and  unnec- 
essary reductions  in  our  wages,  which  for  some  time  have  been  far  below  a 
living  rate.  Our  wages  are  no  longer  regulated  by  our  skill  as  workmen,  nor 
by  the  value  of  the  products  of  our  labor,  but  by  competition  with  cheaper 
labor.  Our  standard  of  workmanship  is  fast  being  lowered  by  the  present 
method  of  screening  coal  before  weighing,  and  of  the  practice  on  the  part  of 
our  employers  of  importing  foreign  cheap  labor  to  their  mines.  In  many 
localities  free  speech  has  been  effectually  suppressed.  That  monstrous  swin- 
dling machine,  the  "truck  system,"  which  was  banished  from  England  by 
legislation,  has  been  transplanted,  and  is  now  flourishing  in  our  midst.  Our 
ills  are  many  and  our  privileges  few;  all  can  be  attributed  to  the  lack  of  or- 
ganized effort  on  our  part.  Our  failure  to  act  in  concert  when  contesting  for 
principles  and  rights  has  brought  about  the  demoralization  and  degradation 
of  our  craft.  Local,  district  and  State  organizations  have  done  much  towards 
ameliorating  the  condition  of  our  craft  in  the  past,  but  to-day  neither  district 
nor  State  unions  can  regulate  the  markets  to  which  their  coal  is  shipped.  We 
know  this  to  our  sorrow.  Hence,  while  approving  of  local  organizations, 
whether  secret  or  open  in  character,  we  are  convinced  that  by  federating 
under  one  general  head  our  powers  for  good  would  be  increased  and  a  speedy 
betterment  of  our  common  condition  follow.  In  a  federation  of  all  lodges 
and  branches  of  miners'  unions  lies  our  only  hope.  Single-handed  we  can  do 
nothing,  but  federated  there  is  no  power  of  wrong  that  we  may  not  openly 
defy.  Federation  will  act  as  a  stimulant,  and  infuse  new  life  into  all  the  dif- 
ferent local,  district  and  State  organizations.  It  should  do  so.  The  cry  of 
distress  which  arises  from  members  of  our  craft  in  all  sections  of  the  countrv 
demands  us  to  act,  and  act  at  once.  Then  let  us  organize  and  agitate  for 
liberty  and  living  mining  rates  —  for  justice  to  our  craft. 


TRADES  UNION    LEADERS. 


OBJECTS    AND    METHODS.  255 

The  objects  of  the  association  were  declared  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  objects  of  the  association  will  be  to  promote  the  interests  of  miners 
and  mine-laborers  morally,  socially,   and  financially;  for  the  protection  of 
their  health  and  their  lives  ;  to  spread  intelligence  amongst  them  ;  to  remove, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  cause  of  strikes,  and  adopt,  wherever  and  whenever 
practicable,  the  principles  of  arbitration  and   restriction ;  to  urge  upon  all 
miners  and  mine-laborers  the  necessity  of  becoming  citizens,  that  we  may 
secure,  by  the  use  of  the  ballot,  the  services  of  men  friendly  to  the  cause  of 
labor,  both  in  our  State  and  National  legislative  bodies;  to  create  a  fund  for 
the  support  and  protection  of  the  members  of  this  association. 

2.  To  obtain  legislative  enactments  for  the  more  efficient  management  of 
mines,  whereby  the  lives  and  health  of  our  members  maybe  better  preserved. 

3.  To  shorten  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  hours  per  day. 

4.  To  secure  the  enactment  of  a  law  for  the  weighing  of  all  coal  before 
being  screened,  and  to  prevent  operators  and  miners  from  contracting  to 
waive  or  modify  the  said  law. 

5.  To  protect  all  members  who  are  unjustly  dealt  with  by  their  employers 
while  endeavoring  to  carry  out  the  behests  of  this  confederation. 

6.  To  assist  all  similar  organizations  which  have  the  same  objects  in  view, 
to-wit :  mutual  protection,  and  the  protection  of  labor  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  capital. 

7.  The  total  abolition  of  the  system  of  contracting  convict  labor  in  any 
mines,  manufacturing  establishments,  or  any  other  institutions,  when  brought 
in  contact  with  free  and  honest  labor. 

8.  The  adoption  of  the  two-weeks'  pay  system,  and  the  abolition   of  the 
truck-store  system  in  all  its  forms,  and  to  secure  to   its  members  justice  and 
equality  in  every  legitimate  way. 

Having  seen,  from  past  experience,  the  futility  of  strikes,  it 
was  thought  best  to  adopt  some  method  to  avoid  them,  and 
settle  all  differences  in  the  future  by  a  mutual  understanding 
with  employers. '  With  this  end  in  view  a  circular  letter  was 
addressed  to  all  mine  operators  in  the  United  States,  inviting 
them  to  a  conference  with  the  miners'  executive  committee  to 
adopt  some  method  to  settle  difficulties  in  the  future  without 
recourse  to  strikes.  The  result  was  that  several  oper- 
ators met  with  them  at  Chicago  in  October,  1885.  There  not 
being  operators  enough  present  to  guarantee  unity  on  their 
part,  they  could  enter  into  no  agreement ;  but  a  committee 
representing  both  sides  was  appointed  to  issue  an  address  to 
all  mine  operators  and  miners,  showing  them  the  necessity 
for  united  action  between  them  to  prevent  the  cutting  of  prices 
in  the  markets,  and  thus  reducing  the  rate  of  miners'  wages 
to  below  the  actual  cost  of  living,  thereby  degrading  their 


256  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

manhood.  The  convention,  or  conference,  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  December  12,  at  which  there 
was  a  better  representation  of  both  sides.  A  committee  was 
appointed  at  that  conference  to  draw  up  a  scale  of  prices  to 
be  paid  for  mining  in  the  different  districts  represented,  and 
let  the  operators  into  the  different  markets  on  an  equality 
in  regard  to  prices  paid  for  mining.  A  scale  was  partially 
agreed  upon  by  the  committee  and  submitted  to  the  confer- 
ence, and  after  a  great  deal  of  discussion  it  could  not  be 
finally  agreed  to  by  all  operators  present,  and  the  conference 
again  adjourned  to  meet  at  Columbus,  February  23,  1886, 
when  the  following  scale  of  prices  submitted  was  adopted 
with  but  one  dissenting  vote,  and  signed  on  behalf  of  the 
miners  and  operators  to  go  into  effect  May  i,  1886,  for  one 
year : — 

Pittsburgh       .....       a|  cents  per  bushel,  or  71  cents  per  ton. 

Hocking  Valley  . 60  "       "       " 

Indiana  Block          .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  So  

Indiana  Bituminous,  No.  i          ......  65  

Indiana  Bituminous,  No.  2  ......  75  "'•" 

Wilmington,  111. 95  "       "       " 

Streator  . .  So  ••'••• 

Grape  Creek        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  75  "       "       " 

Mount  Olive 56$  "       "       " 

Staunton      ..........  56^  '•       '•       '• 

Springfield      ..........  6^4  ' 

Des  Moines,  Iowa       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  90 ; 

Reynoldsville,  Fairmount,  screen  coal          .         .         .       *.  71  "       ' 

At  West  Virginia,  the  Kanawha  district  reduced  prices  to  be  restored  to 
75  cents  per  ton. 

In  order  to  settle  any  disputes  that  might  arise  on  other 
questions,  and  prevent  the  mines  from  stopping  work,  a 
board  of  arbitration  was  appointed  for  each  State,  consisting 
of  representatives  of  each  side.  In  case  they  could  not  set- 
tle a  difficulty  arising  in  their  own  State,  a  national  board 
was  elected,  to  whom  all  cases  that  could  not  be  settled  in 
any  district  or  State  should  be  referred  for  final  adjudica- 
tion, and  whose  decision  should  be  binding  upon  the  par- 
ties interested,  until  May  i,  1887. 

So  far,  there  has  only  been  trouble  between  the  miners  and 


A    SPIRIT    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  257 

those  represented  at  the  different  conferences,  in  one  general 
and  one  or  two  local  matters.  The  operator  who  refused  to 
agree  to  the  scale  of  prices  was  McClure,  of  Grape  Creek, 
111.,  who  has  locked  his  men  out  for  not  working  below  the 
scale  of  prices,  and  then  endeavored  to  import  colored  men 
from  the  South  to  take  their  places.  Trouble  has  arisen 
in  other  places,  where  the  operators  declined  to  attend  the 
conferences  and  refused  to  be  governed  by  the  scale.  The 
spirit  shown  by  the  representatives  of  miners  in  inviting 
employers  to  counsel  with  them,  and  impartially  doing  all 
in  their  power  to  avoid  conflicts,  is  having,  and  will  have 
in  the  future,  a  good  effect,  as  many  operators,  who  in  the 
past  looked  upon  their  employees  as  something  about  whom 
they  should  have  no  concern,  readily  correspond  with  the 
executive  officers  in  regard  to  disputes  and  differences  that 
are  likely  to  arise. 

STRIKES    IN    THE    MINING    REGIONS. 

There  is  no  industry  under  the  sun  that  has  such  a  record 
for  strikes  as  the  coal  mining  industry.  The  partial  cause  of 
this  has  been  stated  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter. 
The  recklessness  of  miners  is  derived  from  their  calling, 
which  also  gives  them  a  spirit  of  independence  such  as  can- 
not be  found  among  the  workmen  of  any  other  trade.  They 
do  not  cringe  or  fawn  to  authority.  Many  of  them  left  their 
native  land  because  of  the  oppressions  there,  and  in  the  hope 
of  obtaining  a  larger  share  of  liberty  here.  Hence  they  re- 
sist every  imposition  placed  upon  them,  and  resent  every 
intrusion  on  their  rights ;  and  the  stubbornness  shown  by 
them  in  many  of  their  strikes,  in  which  they  suffer  hunger, 
cold  and  hardship,  often  evicted  from  their  homes  in  the 
depth  of  winter  to  seek  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  woods  or 
tents,  shows  how  dearly  they  love  justice,  and  how  hard  they 
are  willing  to  fight  for  it.  If  the  workmen  of  the  shops  and 
factories  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  United  States  had 
shown  the  same  spirit  at  the  ballot-boxes  for  the  last  twenty 
years,  the  mis-legislation  that  now  curses  the  laboring  man 
would  have  been  wiped  out. 


258  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

In  giving  a  synopsis  of  the  strikes  in  this  trade,  a  general 
glance  will  be  sufficient,  as  the  causes  that  led  to  them  in  one 
district  were  the  causes  in  another,  and  generally  the  result 
in  one  place  was  the  same  as  in  another. 

The  first  strike  of  which  we  have  record  occurred  in  the 
Belleville  Tract,  in  1862-3.  This  was  a  strike  for  an  advance 
of  wages.  After  several  months,  the  companies  imported  a 
number  of  Belgians  to  take  the  places  of  the  strikers.  Many 
of  these  new-comers  were  sent  away,  their  expenses  being 
paid  by  the  Miners'  Association.  After  a  nine  months'  strug- 
gle, they  gained  a  victory,  their  stubborn  resistance  being 
aided  by  the  upward  tendency  of  prices.  This  strike  was 
followed  by  others  in  other  parts  of  the  country  for  an  ad- 
vance, all  being  successful.  In  some  places  advances  were 
given  without  strikes.  The  prices  thus  advanced  went  on 
with  the  increased  volume  of  currency,  until  coal  that  was 
mined  for  $i  a  ton  paid  $2.30  per  ton  when  the  volume  of 
currency  was  greatest.* 

The  contraction  of  the  currency  in  1866-7-8  brought  down 
the  prices  in  proportion,  and  the  miners  who  fought  for  the 
advance  did  not  feel  like  submitting  to  a  reduction  without 
an  effort  all  over  the  country.  Many  of  those  who  had  fol- 
lowed the  campaigns  of  the  war,  and  who  had  come  back  to 
the  trade  they  had  left,  did  not  feel  as  though  they  ought 
to  give  up  what  was  theirs  by  right,  and  were  ready  to  live 
again  on  soldiers'  fare  rather  than  yield.  In  many  places  the 
very  men  whose  shackles  they  had  broken  were  imported  to 
take  their  places.  Particularly  was  this  the  case  in  mining 
regions  in  the  South  and  Southwest  and  along  the  Ohio  River. 
In  Braidwood,  during  the  strikes  of  1867  and  1868,  Bohe- 
mians and  Italians  were  imported  into  the  mines.  In  the 
Eastern  Pennsylvania  regions,  in  some  localities,  after  over 
one  year's  strike,  the  miners  were  defeated  by  imported  labor. 
While  the  valleys  of  Ohio  did  not  suffer  much  from  importa- 
tion, the  miners,  after  several  months'  struggle,  were  defeated. 

*  The  present  price  is  seventy  cents  a  ton,  with  the  screen-bars  increased  in 
size  and  width  one-fourth  of  an  inch,  making  it  at  least  equal  to  another  ten- 
cent  reduction. 


STARVED    INTO    SUBMISSION.  259 

These  strikes  were  spasmodic  from  that  until  the  strikes  of  the 
anthracite  regions  in  1869  and  1870  ended  them. 

While  many  local  strikes  took  place,  most  of  them  of  short 
duration,  the  next  of  any  importance  was  the  strike  of  the 
Tuscarawas  and  Mahoning  Valley,  of  1873,  against  a  fifteen 
cents'  reduction  on  the  ton,  which  lasted  for  six  months,  and 
was  compromised  at  the  end  of  that  time  in  the  Tuscarawas ; 
but  in  the  Mahoning  it  lasted  three  months  longer,  when 
importation  of  Swedes  and  Italians  into  the  mines,  and  the 
using  of  cheaper  coals  for  making  iron  defeated  the  men,  and 
they  went  to  work  in  the  fall  for  what  they  could  get.  Before 
this  it  was  thought  that  the  block-coal  of  the  Mahoning  and 
Shenango  Valleys  was  the  only  coal  that  would  make  No.  I 
iron ;  but  during  the  strike  of  that  year,  Pittsburgh  and  other 
cheaper  coals  were  experimented  on,  and  with  success,  and 
proved  a  very  severe  blow  to  that  trade  and  to  those  valleys. 

Then  came  the  strike  of  1874  in  the  anthracite  regions  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  which  the  men  were  starved  out  by  imported 
labor,  and  the  tyranny  of  the  coal,  iron  and  railroad  corpora- 
tions of  the  State,  who  owned  the  legislature,  governor  and 
judges,  thus  controlling  the  government  of  the  State,  and 
from  whose  control  the  workingmen  of  the  State,  to  their 
everlasting  disgrace,  have  never  wrested  it. 

These  strikes  continued  until  1875.  In  that  year  a  coal 
operator  having  mines  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
from  Pittsburgh  to  Connellsville,  imported  a  number  of  Ital- 
ians, arming  them  with  breech-loading  rifles  and  warning 
them  to  shoot  every  English-speaking  white  man  who  came 
near  them,  informing  them  that  unless  they  did  so  they  would 
receive  injury.  The  result  was  that  a  riot  ensued,  in  which  the 
Italians  used  their  rifles,  killing  two  men  and  wounding  others. 

This  created  terrible  excitement,  miners,  farmers  and  busi- 
ness men  entering  their  protest  against  the  action  of  the  coal 
operator,  and  declaring  that  if  the  law  did  not  restrain  these 
armed  Italians,  thev  would.  A  warrant  was  sworn  out  against 
the  operator,  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  his  Italian  employees,  and 
the  sheriff  of  Westmoreland  county,  assisted  by  a  number  of 
volunteers,  arrested  them. 


26O  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

The  grand  jury  found  a  true  bill  of  murder  in  the  second 
degree  against  the  Italians  who  used  the  rifles  and  against 
Armstrong  and  the  chief  of  the  Italians  as  accessories  before 
the  fact.  The  chief  and  the  Italians  were  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, and  Armstrong  was  fined  five  dollars  and  costs. 

In  that  same  year,  at  a  place  about  sixty  miles  distant,  John 
Siney  and  twenty-six  others  were  arrested  for  attempting  to 
induce  imported  men  not  to  take  the  places  of  strikers. 
Among  those  who  were  arrested  with  Siney  were  J.  J.  Ma- 
loney,  John  R.  Joyce,  and  Zingo  Parks.  The  two  former 
were  forty  miles  from  the  place  at  the  time  of  the  alleged 
offence.  Joyce  and  Maloney  were  sentenced  to  one  year's 
imprisonment,  because  they  were  president  and  secretary,  re- 
spectively, of  the  Union.  Zingo  Parks  was  also  sentenced 
for  one  year,  although  he  was  in  another  county  at  the  time 
of  the  trouble.  Six  others  received  sentences  of  six  months 
each. 

Strikes  continued  through  the  year,  imported  labor  every- 
where taking  the  places  of  the  strikers.  In  some  places  it 
was  colored  men ;  in  others,  Germans,  Italians,  Swedes,  Po- 
landers,  Hungarians,  and  everything  else  they  could  employ, 
who  took  the  places  of  the  miners.  It  was  only  the  coolness, 
fortitude  and  sagacity  of  the  leaders  that  prevented  bloodshed 
in  every  coal-mining  district. 

The  military  were  called  out  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the 
operators  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Iowa,  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  incite  the  men  to  some  rash  act,  to  give  the  authori- 
ties an  excuse  for  the  arrest  of  the  men  or  an  attack  of  the 
militia.  In  April,  1876,  a  small  riot  occurred  in  the  Tus- 
carawas  Valley,  in  which  one  man  was  shot  and  a  building 
burned.  Several  miners  were  arrested  and  sent  to  jail.  One 
man  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  three  years,  who  was 
pardoned  out  in  a  few  months. 

In  1880,  a  strike  occurred  in  the  same  valley  against  the 
introduction  of  screens,  and  was  finally  defeated  by  the  im- 
portation of  colored  men.  Colored  men  were  also  introduced 
in  the  Mahoning  Valley  and  in  the  Panhandle  district  of  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1882,  in  the  Pittsburgh  district,  miners  who  had 


HOCKING    VALLEY    STRIKE.  261 

been  put  out  of  their  houses  were  camping  in  tents,  Hunga- 
rians were  imported,  and  men,  women  and  children  put  to 
work  in  the  coke  regions.  The  same  class  were  introduced 
into  the  soft-coal  fields  of  Clearfield. 

The  miners  of  Maryland,  having  been  crushed  down  by 
and  through  the  strikes  of  1875,  quietly  submitted  without  a 
murmur  to  all  the  impositions  placed  upon  them.  They  or- 
ganized local  assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  until  they 
had  sufficient  locals  to  organize  a  district,  when  they  organ- 
ized District  Assembly  No.  25.  They  then  persevered,  and 
got  every  mine  and  mining  locality  in  the  State  thoroughly 
organized,  and  built  up  a  good  treasury  in  the  district.  When 
the  season  for  work  was  about  to  open,  they  presented  a  bill 
of  grievances  to  their  employers,  which  was  indignantly  re- 
jected. Knowing  they  were  living  up  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  would  be  supported  by  it,  they 
made  every  effort  to  reason  with  the  employers  and  effect  a 
settlement;  but  every  advance  was  spurned,  and  the  ones 
offering  them  treated  with  contumely.  But  it  did  not  end 
here.  The  employers,  backed  and  supported  by  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railway,  assumed  the  aggressive  and  demanded 
concessions  from  the  men.  After  four  months'  struggle  the 
men  had  to  yield,  and  many  of  them  were  prevented  from 
obtaining  work  elsewhere. 

THE    GREAT    HOCKING    VALLEY    STRIKE,    1884    AND    1885. 

No  battlefield  was  ever  better  contested  than  was  the  strike 
in  the  valley  during  that  time  ;  no  better  generalship  was  ever 
shown  than  was  shown  by  the  leaders  of  the  workingmen  in 
that  battle.  It  was  a  battle  of  dollars  and  cents  of  great  capi- 
talists, backed  by  armed  force,  against  poverty,  hunger,  cold 
and  want,  backed  by  the  support  and  sympathy  of  their  fel- 
lowmen  the  world  over.  The  same  tactics  of  capital  were 
used  •  armed  thugs  and  imported  labor  were  transported  into 
the  valley.  Men  who  preached  and  taught  temperance  had 
barrels  of  beer  and  whiskey  rolled  among  their  hirelings  to 
make  them  fighting  mad.  In  their  hurry  they  sometimes 
shot  down  each  other,  and  the  coroners  rendered  a  verdict  of 


262  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

accidental  shooting.  When  arrested  the  judge  and  jury  set 
them  free.  For  nine  months  the  contest  waged,  ending  in 
defeat.  They  were  defeated  by  circumstances,  and  they  ac- 
cepted the  inevitable  with  a  determination,  if  ever  they  had  to 
fight  again,  they  would  go  through  the  same  thing  for  the 
same  cause.  The  Hocking  Valley  syndicate  won,  but  lost 
over  four  million  dollars,  millions  of  dollars  of  credit  in 
the  commercial  world,  and  millions  of  dollars  of  trade  that 
they  have  never  got  back,  —  and  never  will,  as  it  has 
gone  elsewhere,  —  and  won  nothing  but  the  ill-will  of  the 
men. 

In  January  of  the  year  1884,  the  syndicate  asked  the  men  to 
accept  a  ten-cent  reduction.  The  men  asked  them  to  appoint  a 
committee  to  meet  in  conference,  and  show  cause  why  they 
should  accept  it.  The  request  was  granted,  a  conference  was 
held,  and  the  men  demonstrated  to  them  fairly  that  to  accept 
a  reduction  would  not  benefit  them  in  the  markets,  and  they 
saw  it,  and  did  not  insist.  In  March  following  they  offered  a 
twenty  cents  a  ton  reduction.  The  miners  accepted  ten,  and 
offered  to  take  the  other  ten  if  they  would  give  them  reasons 
for  doing  so.  Another  conference  was  held,  which  resulted 
the  same.  This  did  not  suit  the  syndicate ;  they  wanted  a 
reduction,  and  to  crush  out  the  union,  so  they  could  run  their 
own  business  to  suit  themselves.  So  they  laid  their  plans  and 
made  up  their  minds  to  show  the  Miners'  Association  that  they 
would  crush  it  out.  They  tried,  but  failed,  and  after  losing 
millions  of  dollars  as  above  stated,  they  are  now  ready  at  any 
time  to  consult  the  officers  of  the  Ohio  Miners'  Association, 
which  is  stronger  now  in  the  great  Hocking  district  than  it 
has  ever  been. 

A  short  strike  took  place  in  the  Third  Federated  District  for 
the  Columbus  scale,  which  was  too  hasty  and  ill-advised  to 
be  a  success,  the  miners  of  that  district  being  yet  unorganized, 
and  were  not  prepared,  nor  had  they  confidence  in  the  hastily 
chosen  leaders  of  that  movement,  or  in  themselves.  There 
is  now,  April  15,  1886,  a  strike  existing  at  Grape  Creek,  111., 
over  the  Columbus  scale,  and  the  same  old  tactics,  — armed 
thugs  and  imported  labor. 


RESULTS    OF    THE    ORGANIZATIONS.  263 

The  Miners'  and  Laborers'  Benevolent  Association  was 
successful  in  securing  the  appointment  of  mine-inspectors  in 
the  anthracite  coal  regions  and  the  enactment  of  laws  giving 
proper  ventilation  to  the  mines,  with  penalties  attached  for 
violation.  These  laws  give  the  inspectors  power  to  bring  suit 
to  enforce  the  law.  A  law  was  also  passed  making  the  area 
of  screens  in  the  bituminous  regions  uniform  in  size,  the 
miners  to  be  paid  for  all  merchantable  coal.  This  law,  to- 
gether with  laws  with  regard  to  company  or  "pluck-me" 
stores,  as  they  are  called,  are  a  dead  letter. 

Coal  miners  also  took  part  in  the  general  agitation  of  the 
movement,  electing  delegates  to  various  labor  congresses 
and  labor  conventions,  and  helped  to  secure  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Pennsylvania  Bureau  of  Labor.  Some  of  the 
most  earnest  and  able  advocates  for  justice  to  labor  were 
educated  in  the  meetings  of  the  miners.  This  organiza- 
tion also  assisted  in  securing  legislation  in  Ohio,  establishing 
mine-inspectors.  The  miners  of  Ohio  have  as  yet  failed  to 
secure  legislation  regulating  the  size  of  screens.  A  com- 
mission was  appointed  to  investigate  the  question,  and  two 
reports  were  presented,  the  committee  not  being  able  to 
agree.  Laws  have  also  been  passed  in  Ohio,  abolishing  the 
"  pluck-me  "  stores  and  the  scrip  and  check  systems  ;  but  these 
laws  are  not  wholly  enforced.  The  miners  in  this  State  have 
also  taken  an  active  part  in  the  general  movement,  signing 
petitions  for  the  better  treatment  of  girls  and  women  in  stores, 
workshops  and  factories. 

In  Illinois,  the  miners  of  St.  Clair  county  held  a  conven- 
tion, and  voted  to  support  only  candidates  in  favor  of  their 
interests.  This  resulted  in  the  election  of  John  Hinchcliffe, 
as  before  mentioned,  who  introduced  the  legislation. 

Among  the  papers  which  have  been  of  great  assistance  to 
miners  are  the  Workingmen 's  Advocate,  of  Chicago,  111., 
edited  by  A.  C.  Cameron,  established  in  1864,  —  one  of  the 
ablest  labor  papers  ever  published;  The  Workingman,  of 
Pottsville,  Penn.,  the  official  organ  of  the  miners  of  that 
State;  the  Weekly  Record,  of  Mahoning  City,  Penn.,  edited 
by  a  miner  ;  and  the  National  Labor  Tribune,  of  Pittsburgh, 


264  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Perm.,  started  in  1872.  This  last-named  paper  has  stood 
by  the  miners  through  sunshine  and  cloud,  and  is  now  the 
official  organ  of  the  Federation. 

PINKERTON'S  DETECTIVES  AND  MOLLY  MAGUIRES. 

These  two  subjects  cannot  be  treated  separately.  Of  late 
years  it  has  been  the  custom  of  corporations,  whenever  there 
was  a  dispute  between  them  and  .their  employees,  to  send 
to  the  Pinkerton  detective  agencies  for  assistance.  These 
agencies  have  furnished  men  to  any  required  number,  and 
have  armed  them  with  rifles,  revolvers,  and  other  deadly 
weapons,  presumedly  to  guard  property  and  to  protect  the 
men  who  take  the  place  of  those  on  strike.  They  have 
awakened  the  hatred  and  detestation  of  the  workingmen  of 
the  United  States ;  and  this  hatred  is  due,  not  only  to  the  fact 
that  they  protect  the  men  who  are  stealing  the  bread  from  the 
mouths  of  the  families  of  strikers,  but  to  the  fact  that  as  a 
class  they  seem  rather  to  invite  trouble  than  to  allay  it. 

The  editor  of  this  work  has  had  occasion  to  review  much 
that  has  been  said  and  written  upon  this  question,  and  is  con- 
vinced that  the  full  truth  cannot  be  written,  at  least  so  as  to 
be  believed,  until  some  years  have  elapsed*  from  the  time  of 
the  occurrence  of  the  scenes  that  have  been  and  are  being 
enacted.  How  far  the  detectives  were  instigators  and  abettors 
in  the  Molly  Maguire  difficulties  is  not  generally  known.  But 
the  editor,  at  least,  is  convinced  that  many  innocent  men  suf- 
fered death  in  consequence  of  the  Pinkerton  exposure  rather 
than  as  a  result  of  crimes  committed. 

The  author  of  this  chapter  charges  the  Pinkerton  force  with 
being  recruited  from  "the  lowest  beings  in  human  society, — 
thieves,  pickpockets,  and  penitentiary  refugees." 

With  this  statement,  we  give  the  following  story  as  it  comes 
to  us  :  The  Pinkerton  detectives  are  employed  to  terrorize  the 
workingmen,  and  to  create  in  the  minds  of  the  public  the  idea 
that  the  miners  are  a  dangerous  class  of  citizens  that  have 
to  be  kept  down  by  armed  force.  These  men  had  an  interest 
in  keeping  up  and  creating  troubles,  which  gave  employers 
opportunity  to  demand  protection  from  the  State  militia  at  the 


THE    MOLLY    MAGUIRES.  265 

expense  of  the  State,  and  which  the  State  has  too  readily 
granted.  This  additional  expense  of  a  coal  and  iron  police 
is  added  to  the  cost  of  mining,  and  comes  out  of  the  men 
working  in  the  collieries. 

With  the  going  down  of  the  open  organizations  in  1879, 
the  detectives  came  into  play  in  a  very  prominent  manner. 
Unless  some  sensational  plot  or  conspiracy  was  discovered, 
their  services  would  not  be  required.  They  were  compelled 
to  do  something  that  they  might  continue  in  service  at  good 
wages. 

A  class  of  men  gathered  around  the  mining  regions,  some- 
times" working,  and  always  drinking,  boasting  that  they 
belonged  to  the  Molly  Maguires  in  the  old  country.  Some 
of  these  men  were  the  terror  of  the  region,  dangerous  to 
property  and  to  human  life.  That  they  held  meetings  and 
denounced  not  only  some  of  the  employers,  but  some  of  the 
workingmen,  is  a  well-known  fact.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
detectives,  coming  amongst  these  men,  representing  them- 
selves to  be  miners  from  other  parts  of  the  country,  and 
setting  themselves  up  as  martyrs  to  aristocracy  and  respec- 
tability, gained  considerable  influence,  and  that  the  Molly 
Maguires,  as  an  organization,  were  organized  with  their  con- 
nivance and  assistance. 

When  the  meetings  were  held  whiskey  flowed  freely.  As 
no  business  could  be  done  or  speaking  indulged  in  unless  the 
members  were  half  or  wholly  drunk,  meetings  were  generally 
held  convenient  to  a  saloon  or  bar-room.  The  very  worst 
men  were  put  into  official  positions ;  every  virtue  was  crushed 
out,  and  vice  was  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  men ;  man- 
hood and  morality  were  totally  tabooed. 

If  there  was  an  honest  man  on  the  police  force  in  these 
localities  who  did  not  agree  with  them  and  their  methods,  he 
was  marked ;  if  there  was  any  business  man  who  was  not 
liked,  or  any  boss  they  could  not  freely  bleed,  no  matter 
how  valuable  he  was  to  the  company,  he  was  put  out  of  the 
way,  and  sometimes  the  more  valuable  he  was,  the  better 
the  plea  to  put  him  out  of  the  way,  thus  giving  the  company 
a  greater  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  done  through  retalia- 


266  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

tion,  —  the    detectives    claiming   to    be    on   the   track  of  the 
assassins. 

The  members  not  being  able  to  fully  realize  their  positions, 
would  sit  and  listen  to  the  blackening  of  the  characters  of 
good  men  that  all  the  subtleties  of  a  fiendish  imagination 
could  bring  forth  or  the  eloquence  of  demons  inspire.  The 
necessity  for  their  destruction  was  painted  in  vivid  colors,  so 
that  the  allusion  to  their  taking  off  was  greeted  with  applause. 
By  the  time  the  meetings  closed  there  were  often  volunteers  to 
carry  out  the  work.  If  volunteers  were  not  forthcoming,  as 
men,  sometimes,  drunk  though  they  were,  were  appalled  at 
the  thought  of  taking  human  life,  they  drew  lots  and  'fixed 
upon  the  man  to  do  it.  The  deed  was  done,  and  then  the 
detectives  had  the  task  of  hunting  down  the  assassins,  know- 
ing very  well  who  they  were. 

If  there  was  a  sober,  industrious  man  who  had  the  courage 
of  his  convictions,  and  by  expressing  them  had  made  himself 
obnoxious  to  the  Pinkerton  men  or  to  the  company  by  whom 
they  were  employed,  that  man  was  selected,  and  step  by  step 
he  was  dogged  and  hunted  down.  Juries  were  packed  and 
judges  selected  to  give  sentence.  Men  were  paid  to  swear 
his  life  away  for  some  offence  of  which  he  was  innocent,  the 
real  murderer  generally  being  away. 

<  This  evidence  only  educes  the  fact  of  the  power  of  a  few 
men  to  terrorize  a  community  and  to  bring  disgrace  upon  a 
movement  that  seeks  the  elevation  rather  than  the  degradation 
of  mankind.  The  miners'  organizations  and  miners  gener- 
ally have  been  made  to  suffer  under  the  burden  of  the  terrible 
accusations  against  them,  while  stories  fully  as  tragic  have 
been  repeated  of  border  life  and  of  murders  committed  in  the 
open  streets  by  gamblers  and  blacklegs,  without  any  special 
effort  on  the  part  of  any  corporation  of  employers  to  bring 
such  men  to  justice.  All  that  the  miners  and  mine  laborers  ask 
of  the  general  public  is  to  investigate  into  the  real  facts  and 
into  the  conditions  under  which  they  labor,  and  to  assist  them 
rather  than  to  hinder  them  in  their  efforts  at  improvement. 
They  point  to  the  arrest  of  John  Siney,  Parks,  Joyce,  Malo- 
ney,  and  twenty-six  others,  in  1875,  and  the  cases  of  William 


NEW    FIELDS    OF    LABOR.  267 

Walton,  Johnson,  and  twenty-six  others  in  the  present  year, 
who  were  guilty  of  no  like  offence,  but  whose  every  effort  has 
been  to  bring  peace  and  justice  to  all. 

The  future  prospects  of  the  coal  miner  are  anything  but 
encouraging.  The  consumption  of  coal  is  daily  being  dis- 
placed with  gas  and  electricity.  The  mines  are  now  over- 
crowded with  men  who  find  that  every  day  not  only  increases 
the  efficiency  of  coal-producing  machinery,  but  adds  to  the 
producing  power  of  labor  in  the  mines ;  thus  increasing  the 
hardships  of  the  miners,  many  of  whom,  ere  long,  will  be 
forced  to  seek  other  occupations  to  procure  a  living  for  them- 
selves and  their  families.  Organization,  thorough  and  com-' 
plete,  may  give  temporary  relief;  but  the  fact  cannot  be 
denied  that  there  are  too  many  mines  and  too  many  miners, 
and  to  afford  means  for  all  to  live  and  prosper,  new  fields 
of  labor  must  be  found. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    IRON    WORKERS. 

THE   FIRST  UNIONS  —  A  STRIKE   IN   1850  —  THE  WORKMEN  DEFEATED  — 
UNITED  SONS  OF  VULCAN  —  THEIR  GROWTH,  SUCCESSES  AND  DEFEATS 

—  ASSOCIATED  BROTHERHOOD  OF  IRON  AND   STEEL  WORKERS — IRON 
AND  STEEL  ROLL  HANDS' UNION  —  A  NOTABLE  STRIKE  —  THE  UNITED 
NAILERS  —  THE   AMALGAMATED   ASSOCIATION  OF   IRON   AND  STEEL- 
WORKERS —  How  IT  WAS    FORMED  —  ITS   PURPOSES  —  CO-OPERATION 
FAILS  —  RAPID  GROWTH    OF   THE   ORDER  —  PERIOD  OF   STRIKES  —  A 
TARIFF  QUESTION  —  STRIKE  AT  CINCINNATI  — 1882,  A  YEAR  OF  STRIKES 

—  GREAT  STRIKE  AT   PITTSBURGH  —  WORKMEN    DEFEATED  —  TESTI- 
MONIAL TO  PRESIDENT  JARRETT  —  NAILERS   LEAVE  THE  ASSOCIATION, 
MEET  REVERSES,  AND  RETURN  —  REASONS  FOR  PROTECTIVE  TARIFF  — 
PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  —  ARBITRATION  AND   CON- 
CILIATION —  THE  LATTER  PREFERRED  —  STRIKES  —  CONCLUSION. 

THIRTY  years  ago  no  labor  organization  or  union  of 
any  kind  existed  among  the  iron  and  steel-workers  of 
the  United  States.  The  first  union  of  which  we  .have  any 
authentic  information  connected  with  the  iron  trades  in  this 
country,  was  that  known  as  the  "Sons  of  Vulcan,"  the  mem- 
bership of  which  was  composed  of  boilers  and  puddlers.  The 
next  union  was  that  of  the  "Associated  Brotherhood  of  Iron 
and  Steel  Rail  Heaters  of  the  United  States."  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  "Iron  and  Steel  Roll  Hands'  Union,"  and  this 
again  by  the  "United  Nailers."  These  different  unions  were 
federated  in  1876,  forming  the  present  great  organization 
known  as  the  "Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel- 
Workers  of  the  United  States."  In  tracing  the  history  of  the 
trades-unions  of  the  iron  workers,  we  will  give  a  brief  outline 
of  each  of  the  unions  in  the  order  in  which  we  have  here 
enumerated  them.  It  would  be  extremely  interesting  to 
trace  the  growth  of  the  iron  industry  here,  but  it  can  be 
only  briefly  touched  upon.  Iron  was  first  manufactured  in 
this  country  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1645,  the  works  consisting 
only  of  a  blast  furnace  and  refinery  forge.  Iron  was  not 

(268) 


THE    FIRST    STRIKES.  269 

manufactured  in  Pennsylvania  until  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  Thomas  Rutter  built,  in  1716,  a  blomary  on 
Manatawney  creek  in  Berks  county,  about  three  miles  above 
Pottstown.  A  blomary  is  the  place  in  which  the  iron  is 
produced  directly  from  the  ore.  But  Pennsylvania  rapidly 
took  the  lead  in  this  industry,  and  in  1759,  Acrelius  says: 
—  "Pennsylvania,  in  regard  to  its  iron  works,  is  the  most 
advanced  of  all  the  American  colonies."  Early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  improvements  in  the  manufacture  of  iron 
were  invented  in  England,  and  they  were  soon  adopted  in 
America.  In  1790,  Jacob  Perkins,  of  Newbury port,  Mass., 
invented  and  patented  the  first  nail-cutting  machine.  About 
the -same  period,  also,  important  inventions  in  this  line  were 
made  in  England.  The  iron  industry  grew  most  rapidly 
under  the  stimulus  of  these  inventions.  In  1817,  the  first 
rolling-mill  proper  in  the  United  States,  where  puddling 
and  rolling  of  bars  was  done,  was  built  by  Colonel  Meason, 
at  Plumsock,  Fayette  county,  Penn.  Edward  Nock,  an 
Englishman,  introduced  the  process  of  pig-boiling  in  this 
country,  at  the  mill  of  Lorenz  &  Cuddy,  Pittsburgh,  Penn., 
November  16,  1837.  Boiling  soon  superseded  puddling,  and 
but  little  puddling  is  now  done  in  this  country.  The  price 
paid  for  boiling  in  1837  was  $7  per  ton  ;  for  puddling,  $4.25. 
By  1842  boiling  was  reduced  to  $5,  and  puddling  to  $3.50. 
The  first  strike  of  the  boilers  was  caused  by  a  reduction  from 
$5.50  to  $5  per  ton,  in  February,  1842.  The  strike  was 
ended  July  9th,  by  the  surrender  of  the  strikers,  and  $5  was 
paid  until  1845.  In  May  of  that  year  an  advance  of  one 
dollar  per  ton  was  demanded  and  refused.  A  strike  fol- 
lowed, which  ended  successfully  in  the  latter  part  of  August, 
and  $6  was  paid  until  January,  1850.  Early  in  1848, 
the  puddlers  at  the  Phoenixville  Rolling  Mills,  Chester 
county,  Penn.,  struck  against  a  reduction  from  $5  to  $3.50 
per  ton,  but  at  the  end  of  April  they  accepted  the  reduc- 
tion and  returned  to  work.  In  conducting  these  strikes  some 
form  of  organization  must  have  been  created.  It  is  through 
such  experiences  as  these  that  the  wage-workers  learn  the 
need  of  trades-unions. 


27O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

On  January  12,  1850,  a  strike  of  the  iron  workers  of  Pitts- 
burgh commenced,  against  the  following  proposed  reduction 
in  wages :  — 

Puddlers,  from  $4.00  to  $3.50  per  ton. 
Boilers,        "         6.00  to    4.50     "       " 
Refiners,      "         i.oo  to       .80     "       " 
Scrappers,  "        3.75  to     2.50     "       " 
Heaters,       "         1.37  to     i.oo     "       " 

This  strike  was  a  remarkably  bitter  one.  For  the  first  time 
in  the  iron  mills,  the  manufacturers  resorted  to  the  tactics  of 
importing  foreign  workmen  to  take  the  places  of  workmen 
on  strike.  On  February  i8th,  they  had  succeeded  in  getting 
a  sufficient  number  of  hands  from  the  East  to  start  four  mills  at 
the  reduced  rate  of  wages.  This  caused  very  bitter  feelings 
on  the  part  of  the  strikers,  their  wives  and  children,  against 
the  manufacturers,  and  particularly  against  the  imported 
workmen.  A  few  attacks  were  made  upon  the  mills  and  the 
workmen  operating  them  at  the  reduced  wages,  in  which  the 
women  were  by  far  the  boldest  and  most  aggressive  ;  but  the 
total  damage  done  amounted  to  but  a  few  hundred  dollars, 
and  the  injury  of  one  or  two  workmen.  Several  arrests  were 
made  of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  these  attacks.  They 
were  put  on  trial,  and  two  men  and  four  women  found  guilty 
in  manner  and  form  as  indicted.  Three  of  the  men  were 
acquitted.  The  male  defendants  were  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine 
of  six  and  one-fourth  cents,  with  cost  of  prosecution,  and 
undergo  imprisonment  for  eighteen  months  in  the  peniten- 
tiary. The  women  were  each  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of 
fifty  dollars  and  costs,  and  imprisonment  for  thirty  days  in 
the  county  jail.  They  were  subsequently  pardoned,  and  the 
fines  remitted  by  Governor  Johnson,  upon  petitions  of  eight 
of  the  jury  that  convicted  them  and  a  large  number  of  citi- 
zens. The  strike  ended  in  favor  of  the  manufacturers ;  but 
the  result  left  the  workmen  greatly  depressed  and  discon- 
tented, and  many  scattered  to  new  fields  of  operations 
throughout  the  West.  The  next  ten  or  eleven  years  wit- 
nessed many  petty  strikes,  as  the  men,  at  every  available 
opportunity,  would  seek  redress  for  some  real  or  imaginary 
wrong,  while  the  manufacturers,  in  times  when  the  prices 


SONS    OF    VULCAN.  271 

tended  downward,  in  an  effort  to  save  fleeting  profits,  would 
retaliate  through  a  reduction  of  wages.  Rules  and  regula- 
tions were  adopted  in  the  several  mills  by  the  manufacturers 
which  were  very  obnoxious  to  the  workmen,  and  which  they 
resisted  in  every  possible  way,  strikes  and  losses  to  both 
sides  generally  being  the  result.  To  add  to  the  misery,  the 
condition  of  trade  was  very  dull,  business  was  demoralized, 
and  a  more  deplorable  condition  of  affairs  was  hardly  con- 
ceivable. Wages  kept  going  down,  money  was  growing 
more  scarce  and  of  less  value  every  day,  until  in  1858  boil- 
ing was  down  to  $3.50  and  $4.00  per  ton,  and  in  some  of  the 
Eastern  mills  boiling  was  below  $3.00  per  ton,  and  puddling, 
in  some  instances,  down  as  low  as  $2.20  per  ton,  and  we 
have  an  instance  in  which  $1.90  was  paid  for  puddling  at 
Danville,  Penn.  The  pay  in  those  days  was  generally  in 
store-orders.  During  these  dark  and  dismal  years  it  might 
truthfully  be  said  that  upon  the  whole  the  workmen,  not- 
withstanding their  occasional  turbulence,  were  as  completely 
subjugated  to  the  will  of  their  employers  as  it  was  possible 
for  men  to  be  in  this  free  and  rapidly-growing  country.  It 
was  in  the  midst  of  these  dark  years  that  a  trades-union 
was  formed,  under  the  name  of  the 

"UNITED  SONS  OF  VULCAN." 

On  the  1 2th  day  of  April,  1858,  a  few  of  the  men  con- 
nected with  the  boiling  department  of  the  iron  mills  of  Pitts- 
burgh held  a  meeting  at  the  "Our  House,"  on  Diamond  street, 
and  organized  the  above-named  trades-union.  Among  the 
boilers  who  were  early  pioneers  of  trades-unionism  present 
at  this  meeting  were  Patrick  Graham,  Matthew  Haddock, 
James  Davies,  Joseph  Mellard  and  Hughey  Hagan.  A  few 
others  were  present,  whose  names  are  not  known. 

The  inactivity  of  business  and  consequent  scarcity  of  em- 
ployment, together  with  the  supposed  hostility  of  the  mill- 
owners,  caused  the  membership  to  keep  the  fact  of  organi- 
zation a  profound  secret.  Through  fear  of  hostile  action  by 
the  employers,  but  very  few  names  were  added  to  the  list  of 
members.  In  the  fall  of  1858,  the  members,  impressed  with 


272  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  perils  incident  to  an   effort  to  extend  the  organization, 
concluded  to  suspend  further  operation. 

A  'favorable  opportunity  presented  itself  to  reorganize  on  a 
firmer  basis,  in  1861.  The  members  assembled  and  a  plat- 
form of  principles  and  a  constitution  were  adopted.  The 
growth  of  the  organization  was  very  slow  for  some  time, 
as  the  members  realized  that  their  object  required  quiet 
yet  earnest  labor ;  hence  great  precaution  was  taken  as  to 
who  should  be  admitted  to  membership. 

In  August,  1861,  Miles  S.  Humphreys  was  elected  Grand 
Master  of  the  organization.  The  breaking  out  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion  and  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1861,  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  revival  of  business  and  greater  activity  in  the 
trade.  Through  this,  together  with  the  energy  thrown  into 
the  work  by  Grand  Master  Humphreys,  the  organization 
rapidly  increased  in  membership.  The  National  Forge  was 
organized  in  Pittsburgh,  September  8,  1862.  The  first  officers 
elected  were:  President,  Miles  S.  Humphreys;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Patrick  Graham  ;  Treasurer,  H.  Thompson  ;  Vice-Secre- 
tary, M.  Grogan.  By  this  time  the  organization  had  gained 
position  and  influence,  which  it  immediately  began  to  exert, 
culminating  in  a  full  and  complete  recognition  of  its  rights 
by  the  manufacturers,  early  in  1873.  Nearly  every  demand 
made  by  its  members  upon  the  manufacturers  was  conceded r 
and  its  growth  became  very  rapid. 

In  the  second  annual  session,  held  in  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
a  general  constitution  was  adopted.  This  provided  that  only 
good,  practical  workmen  should  be  admitted  to  membership, 
and  that  the  objects  of  the  organization  should  be  to  maintain 
the  best  interests  of  the  craft,  to  aid  sick  and  distressed  mem- 
bers and  to  do  all  other  things  pertaining  to  the  business  of 
the  forge.  By  this  time  President  Humphreys  had  organized 
forges  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  West 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  Illinois  and  Maryland.  At  this  time  de- 
mands for  increasing  wages  were  usually  acceded  to,  or  were 
granted  after  short  strikes.  Difficulties  of  this  kind  frequently 
occurred  and  a  conference  of  representative  men  from  each 
side  was  chosen  to  adjust  them.  The  plan  worked  well,  but 


BOILERS    AND    PUDDLERS.  273 

necessitated  so  frequent  meetings  that  a  general  plan  was 
sought  which  would  fix  wages  justly  commensurate  with  the 
price  of  iron.  This  gave  birth  to  what  is  known  as  the  "Scale 
of  Prices"  system  in  regulating  wages  among  the  iron  and 
steel  workers.  The  first  scale  adopted  will  be  given  under 
the  heading  of  "Arbitration  and  Conciliation."  This  was  the 
first  graduated  scale  of  wages  based  on  the  price  of  the  pro- 
duct of  the  workman  that  we  have  on  record.  The  system 
was  first  suggested  by  Mr.  B.  F.  Jones,  of  the  firm  of  Jones 
&  Laughlin,  Pittsburgh,  and  afterwards  worked  out  by  Presi- 
dent Humphreys,  who  is  the  acknowledged  founder  of  the 
scale  system.  Mr.  Humphreys  served  in  the  capacity  of 
President  up  to  1866.  He  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Chi- 
verton. 

No  official  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  the  National  Forge  were  published  until  1867,  hence 
we  have  no  data  of  the  number  of  forges  previous  to  the 
assembling  of  the  National  Forge  in  Pittsburgh,  in  August, 
1867.  At  this  convention  there  were  fifty  delegates  present. 
The  number  of  forges  was  forty-seven.  Twelve  forges  were 
not  represented.  The  organization  was  divided  into  districts, 
and  placed  under  the  charge  of  district  deputies.  Five  heats 
double,  and  six  heats  single  turn  was  fixed  as  the  limit  of  a 
day's  work  at  a  puddling  furnace.  The  attempt  was  made, 
but  failed,  to  organize  a  helpers'  union,  making  it  subordi- 
nate to  the  local  forge.  It  was  decided  that  the  Grand 
Forge  should  issue  a  pamphlet  on  the  same  plan  as  the  first 
International  Journal  of  the  Moulders'  Union.  This  was 
afterwards  changed,  and  a  very  good  and  useful  little  pamph- 
let, called  The  Semi-Annual  Vulcan  Record,  was  issued. 
Resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  in  which  they  pledged 
themselves  to  spread  the  seeds  of  union  zealously  until  the 
iron  boilers  and  puddlers  of  every  locality  should  be  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  union ;  demanded  through  the  sim- 
plicity of  justice  fair  remuneration  for  their  arduous  toil,  and 
the  elevation  of  labor  ;  pledged  themselves  to  support  the  laws 
enacted  at  this  session,  and  to  support  the  Daily  and  Weekly 
Advocate,  of  Pittsburgh,  which  they  practically  adopted  as 


274  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  official  organ  of  the  union ;  condemned  the  statement  of 
A.  S.  Hewitt,  of  New  Jersey,  relative  to  the  moral  standing 
of  the  organization,  made  before  the  Royal  Commission  of 
England,  as  a  base  calumny,  holding  him  up  to  contempt ; 
thanked  Hon.  W.  C.  M'Carthy,  mayor  of  Pittsburgh,  for  the 
courteous  manner  in  which  he  tendered  the  hospitality  of  the 
city  to  the  union  ;  and  thanked  the  Daily  Evening  Advo- 
cate and  the  Commercial  for  publishing  reports  of  pro- 
ceedings, etc. 

Internal  dissensions,  however,  had  already  sprung  up  in 
the  organization,  local  forges  were  behind  in  their  dues, 
petty  jealousies  existed,  and  there  was  a  stormy  time  over 
fixing  the  compensation  of  the  Grand  Secretary,  which  was 
finally  made  $700  a  year.  '  After  this  convention,  the  or- 
ganization became  more  demoralized,  and  less  than  half 
the  members  remained  at  the  time  of  the  next  convention, 
held  at  Buffalo,  August  5,  1868,  when  only  fourteen  forges 
were  represented.  At  this  time  the  treasury  of  the  Grand 
Forge  showed  a  deficit  of  about  $800.  The  Grand  Master's 
address  at  this  convention  was  a  remarkable  document,  full 
•of  wise  advice,  sound  argument  and  excellent  counsel.  The 
constitution  was  largely  reconstructed  at  this  convention,  and 
the  question  of  making  the  organization  a  beneficial  one  vras 
referred  to  the  sub-forges  for  consideration.  Hugh  Mc- 
Laughlin,  of  Chicago,  offered  a  resolution  relative  to  form- 
ing an  association  for  the  purchase  of  public  lands.  It  was 
adopted,  but  no  further  action  on  it  was  taken.  The  offices 
of  Grand  Master  and  Grand  Secretary  were  consolidated, 
and  John  O.  Edwards  chosen  to  fill  it.  He  Was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  perseverance,  and  a  good  financier.  He 
freed  the  Grand  Forge  from  debt.  Under  his  administration 
the  organization  gained  new  life,  energy  and  strength ;  and 
it  kept  growing  larger  and  stronger  until  it  was  merged  into 
the  Amalgamated  Association. 

At  the  convention  in  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  August  3,  1869, 
the  constitution  was  remodeled.  A  strike  at  Clifton,  W.  Va., 
had  taken  place  during  the  year,  caused  by  a  failure  of 
the  employers  to  pay  wages  as  promised.  A  committee  from 


CHINESE    LABOR    DENOUNCED.  275 

the  men  waited  on  the  manager ;  hot  words  ensued,  and 
the  manager  ordered  the  discharge  of  the  committee.  The 
forge  took  the  matter  up,  and  sent  resolutions  to  the  office 
demanding  the  payment  of  wages  due,  the  reinstatement  of 
the  discharged  committee,  and  the  removal  of  the  manager. 
The  Grand  Master  sustained  the  men  in  the  first  two  de- 
mands, but  strenuously  opposed  the  last.  He  urged  the 
men  to  strike  only  for  principles,  and  not  against  men.  He 
said  it  was  "presumption  in  us  to  dictate  to  our  employers 
whom  they  shall  or  shall  not  hire  to  manage  their  affairs. 
I  think  the  gap  between  us  and  our  employers  would  be 
lessened,  as  they  could  see  that  we  were  led  by  reason,  and 
not  by  prejudice."  The  men,  however,  refused  to  accept 
his  advice.  The  convention  indorsed  the  sentiments  of  the 
Grand  Master,  but  quietly  passed  over  the  refusal  of  the 
men. 

During  the  following  year,  several  small  strikes  in  the 
Eastern  mills  against  a  reduction  of  wages  were  settled  by 
compromise.  At  the  convention  of  1870,  held  at  Harris- 
burgh,  Penn.,  resolutions,  prepared  by  ex-Grand  Master 
Humphreys,  were  adopted.  In  them  the  policy  of  importing 
of  Chinese  labor  was  deprecated  as  derogatory  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  free  and  intelligent  labor  of  the  country ;  the 
selfishness  characterizing  the  actions  of  capitalists  was  con- 
demned, as  incompatible  with  American  patriotism  ;  and  the 
importation  of  contract  labor,  which  "  piled  the  wealth  of  our 
country  into  heaps,  making  the  rich  richer,  and  the  poor 
poorer,"  tending  to  unduly  depreciate  the  value  of  all  labor, 
was  stigmatized  as  not  being  in  the  spirit  of  the  policy  of 
inviting  immigration  to  the  United  States.  These  resolu- 
tions are  among  the  first  blasts  of  organized  labor  against 
the  importation  of  foreign  labor  under  contract.  The  Sons 
of  Vulcan  were  opposed  to  the  free  importation  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  foreign  labor  in  competition  with  those  of  their  own 
labor.  It  needs  no  argument,  therefore,  to  prove  they  were, 
as  all  iron  workers  now  are,  consistent  protectionists. 

In  August,  1871,  the  Grand  Forge  met  in  Chicago,  and 
twenty-one  new  forges  were  reported.  Grand  Master  Edwards, 


276  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

after  serving  the  organization  for  several  years  most  faithfully 
and  efficiently  without  compensation,  was  succeeded  by  Hugh 
McLaughlin,  of  Chicago,  who  served  very  acceptably  for 
two' years.  In  1872  a  salary  of  $1,200  dollars  was  voted 
the  Grand  Master,  as  the  duties  of  that  office  now  occu- 
pied all  his  time.  An  epidemic  of  strikes  broke  out,  and 
when  the  Annual  Convention  met  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  August, 
1873,  he  seemed  to  have  lost  proper  control  of  the  organiza- 
tion. During  his  two  years  of  service,  however,  it  almost 
doubled  its  membership.  At  this  convention  the  Committee 
on  the  Good  of  the  Order  advised  most  patient  and  careful 
consideration  of  evils,  proposed  to  be  remedied  before  a  strike 
was  agreed  on ;  and  that  strikes  should  always  be  made  for 
the  removal  of  evils,  not  against  managers. 

During  President  McLaughlin's  term,  efforts  were  inaugu- 
rated to  form  an  alliance  with  the  Amalgamated  Iron  Work- 
ers' Union,  of  Great  Britain.  But  up  to  this  time  nothing 
ha,d  been  accomplished,  because  the  communication  from  the 
Sons  of  Vulcan  to  the  union,  relative  to  such  a  federation, 
was  not  intended  to  be  official.  The  union  was  heartily  in 
favor  of  the  principle  of  federation. 

David  Harris,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  was  chosen  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  Hugh  McLaughlin.  He  was  remarkably  well  fitted 
for  the  office  in  all  respects,  and  his  selection  was  most  oppor- 
tune. The  panic  of  1873  had  already  set  in.  Prices  tumbled, 
wages  went  down,  mills  stopped,  and  strikes  seemed  to  be  the 
order  of  the  day.  The  depression  in  trade,  and  dearth  of  work 
and  scarcity  of  money,  demoralized  matters  generally,  so  that 
the  opening  of  the  year  1874  found  the  forges  almost 
totally  poverty-stricken,  and  many  of  them  unable  to  pay 
their  National  Forge  dues.  In  that  year  of  severe  troubles, 
President  Harris  organized  twenty  new  forges,  and  the  or- 
ganization steadily  increased  in  membership.  Towards  the 
end  of  October,  1874,  the  manufacturers  notified  the  union 
that  they  desired  a  change  in  the  base  of  the  scale  from 
$6  to  $5.50.  This  was,  after  several  conferences,  finally 
rejected,  and  thus  occurred  the  trying  strike  of  1874-75.  No 
organization  was  ever  more  severely  tried  than  were  the  Sons 


RAIL    HEATERS    ORGANIZE.  277 

of  Vulcan  during  this  strike.  Both  officers  and  men  fought 
bravely  through  that  dark  and  dreary  winter.  It  was  during 
these  times  that  the  question  of  a  more  perfect  organization, 
or,  more  properly  speaking,  the  amalgamating  of  the  several 
iron  workers'  unions  into  one  grand  organization  was  talked 
of  in  a  general  way.  It  was  the  time  of  seed-sowing.  The 
strike  of  the  winter  of  1874-75  made  it  highly  apparent  that 
such  an  organization  was  necessary.  President  Harris  served 
two  years  in  office,  and  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Bishop,  of 
Pittsburgh,  who  was  the  last  President  of  the  Sons  of  Vulcan. 
He  was  elected  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  August, 
1875,  and  served  for  one  year.  Under  his  leadership  the 
organization  flourished  remarkably  well.  Nothing  of  par- 
ticular importance  took  place  during  the  year.  The  time 
was  chiefly  spent  by  the  president  in  preparing  the  ground- 
work for  the  new  organization,  the  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion. 

ASSOCIATED    BROTHERHOOD    OF    IRON    AND    STEEL    RAIL 

HEATERS. 

This  organization  was  formed  in  the  latter  part  of  August, 
1872.  Several  local  lodges  had  been  organized  previous  to 
this  date,  but  it  is  impossible  to  get  at  the  exact  dates  of  their 
formation.  That  of  Friendship  Union  Lodge,  of  Chicago, 
111.,  is  the  earliest  on  record.  The  organization  of  this  lodge 
took  place  some  time  in  1869.  It  was  this  lodge  that  took  the 
initiative  steps  to  bring  about  the  organization  of  a  National 
Association,  by  issuing  a  circular  calling  a  convention  of  the 
craft  at  Chicago,  August  30  and  31,  1872.  Delegates  from 
the  following  mills  met  at  the  hall  of  the  Association,  358 
Milwaukee  avenue ;  Bridgeport,  Alleghany,  Penn.  ;  Joliet, 
111.  ;  Bethlehem,  Penn.  ;  Wyandotte,  Mich.  ;  Wheatland, 
Penn. ;  Decatur,  111. ;  Bay  View,  Wis.  Thomas  P.  Jones 
was  chosen  President,*  and  E.  B.  Evans  Secretary  of  the 
Convention.  A  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted,  and 
such  other  measures  were  enacted  as  were  necessary  to  per- 
fect the  organization.  A  strong  feeling  existed  among  dele- 
gates that  a  clause  should  be  placed  in  the  constitution  to 


278  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

make  provisions  for  the  support  of  families  of  sick  or  deceased 
members,  but  the  question,  when  put  to  a  vote,  was  lost. 
The  word  "  rail "  was  ordered  stricken  from  the  title  of  the 
Brotherhood ;  and  bar-mill,  plate-mill  and  guide-mill  heaters 
were  made  eligible  to  membership.  A  motion  was  made  to 
have  the  word  "  white  "  inserted  in  the  clause  on  eligibility  of 
membership,  but  it  was  lost.  The  following  were  elected 
officers  of  the  Grand  Lodge  :  W.  G.  S.,  Thomas  P.  Jones, 
Chicago;  W.  V.  G.  S.,  E.  B.  Evans,  Bay  View;  W.  G.  I., 
John  Rees,  Bridgeport;  W.  G.  B.,  Morgan  D.  Davies,  Alle- 
ghany,  Penn.  ;  W.  G.  Sc.,  James  D.  Kelly,  Joliet,  111.  The 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  Associated  Brotherhood  met  annually 
after  this  up  to  the  date  of  its  being  merged  into  the  Amal- 
gamated Association.  Its  second  convention  was  held  in 
Alleghany  City,  in  May,  1873.  The  first  year  had  been  a 
prosperous  one,  the  organization  having  increased  from  nine 
to  twenty-two  lodges. 

The  reports  of  subsequent  conventions  show  that  internal 
dissensions  soon  crept  in.  The  nature  of  the  depressed  period 
of  trade  following  the  panic  of  1873  also  worked  serious  in- 
jury to  the  success  of  the  organization.  At  the  Third  Annual 
Session  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  in  Covington,  Ky-,  July,  1874, 
it  appears  that  the  total  number  of  lodges  represented  was 
18,  with  a  total  membership  of  459  ;  not  reporting,  10.  Total 
membership,  700.  Much  of  the  increase  in  membership  was 
due  to  making  "  rollers "  and  "  roughers "  eligible  to  mem- 
bership ;  but  from  this  date  the  organization  gradually  lost 
strength.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  even  to  the  present  time 
no  class  of  iron  and  steel  workers  are  so  badly  disorganized 
as  are  the  heaters,  rollers  and  roughers  of  the  large  rail-mills 
of  the  country. 

President  Jones  was  an  able  and  well-informed  man,  bold 
and  impartial.  He  was  succeeded  in  1874  by  Adam  W. 
Schada,  of  Bethlehem,  Penn.  In  1875,  there  was  no  regular 
meeting  of  the  order,  and  the  final  meeting  was  at  Pittsburgh, 
in  August,  1876.  For  the  two  preceding  years  neither  the 
president  nor  treasurer  had  attended  to  their  official  duties. 
Vice-President  Sullivan  and  Recording  Secretary  Spangler 


ROLLERS    AND    ROUGHERS.  279 

attended  to  the  executive  business  of  the  organization,  for 
which  they  deserve  the  highest  praise.  At  the  Pittsburgh 
Convention  only  13  delegates  were  present,  representing  14 
lodges,  having  a  membership  in  good  standing  of  412.  There 
were  18  lodges  having  no  delegate  present.  These  lodges 
had  about  650  members.  Much  credit  is  due  to  Samuel 
Rowley  for  his  good  services  to  this  organization. 

IRON  AND  STEEL  ROLL  HANDS '  UNION. 

This  organization  was  composed  of  practical  rollers,  rough- 
ers,  catchers  and  hookers,  thus  making  it  the  second  organiza- 
tion composed  of  what  are  termed,  in  rolling-mill  phraseology, 
"  finishers."  It  will  be  observed  that  the  Associated  Brother- 
hood of  Heaters,  Rollers  and  Roughers  made  no  provision 
to  admit  to  membership  a  large  portion  of  finishing  hands, 
hence  the  necessity  of  this  organization.  Local  lodges  were 
organized  as  early  as  1870.  The  roll  hands  of  the  North 
Mills,  Chicago,  were  the  first  to  form  a  local  lodge.  Spring- 
field, 111.,  and  other  places  soon  followed.  The  organization 
of  the  National  Union  took  place  at  Springfield,  111.,  June 
2,  1873.  The  first  National  Convention  was  held  at  the  same 
time.  Nineteen  delegates,  representing  fifteen  lodges  with 
a  total  membership  of  473,  were  present.  The  National 
Union  officers  elected  were  as  follows :  President,  Alfred 
Sowers,  Springfield,  111.  ;  Vice-President,  John  W.  Fultz, 
Indianapolis,  Ind.  ;  Secretary,  Robert  F.  Williams,  Spring- 
field, 111.  :  Financial  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Richard  Brunt, 
Chicago,  111.  During  the  convention  R.  F.  Williams  resigned, 
and  William  Houston  was  elected  in  his  place  as  secretary. 
The  business  of  the  convention  was  of  the  usual  formal  char- 
acter incident  to  organization.  The  most  striking  feature 
was  a  seeming  opposition  to  any  affiliation  with  other  organi- 
zations. This  feeling  was  carried  so  far  as  to  culminate  in  a 
motion  "  That  our  union  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Heat- 
ers' or  Puddlers'  Union."  The  vote  on  this  motion  was  a  tie ; 
but  the  president,  casting  his  vote  in  the  negative,  the  motion 
was  lost.  A  motion  then  prevailed  "  That  no  roller  go  to 
a  heaters'  union,  but  let  us  have  an  understanding  between 


280  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

both  grand  bodies  to  assist  each  other  in  a  legal  strike,  or  in 
any  dispute  that  may  arise."  Later,  this  union  became  the 
most  zealous  advocate  of  amalgamation.  Buggymen  were 
made  eligible  to  membership,  and  later,  during  the  conven- 
tion, a  motion  prevailed  "That  all  workmen  in  the  mill  who  are 
capable  of  working  around  the  rolls  be  taken  into  the  union." 
The  limit  of  a  day's  work  was  fixed  at  six  rounds.  The  first 
year  of  the  existence  of  the  Roll  Hands '  Union  was  fraught 
with  difficulties  throughout.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  em- 
ployers to  have  a  "black-list." 

The  following  short  history  of  a  strike  at  Carondelet,  Mo., 
very  clearly  shows  the  disposition  of  employers  and  employees 
at  this  time.  The  company  had  notified  the  workmen  that  a 
reduction  of  fifteen  per  cent,  in  wages  was  to  take  place. 
New  rules  for  the  government  of  the  works  were  put  up  by 
the  company.  These  rules,  it  appears,  were  very  obnoxious 
to  the  men.  We  have  failed  to  get  a  copy  of  them.  How- 
ever, the  workmen  refused  to  accept  the  reduction  offered,  or 
to  abide  by  the  new  rules.  The  reply  of  the  workmen  to  the 
company  was  as  follows  :  — 

1.  We  agree  to  accept  the  same  reduction  as  Chicago,  viz.  :  nine  and  one- 
half  per  cent,  (said  reduction  to  come  off  our  old  scale),  and  no  other. 

2.  We  agree  to  sign  said  scale  for  one  year,  or  longer  if  required ;  either 
party  wishing  a  change  to  give  thirty  days'  notice  of  their  intentions. 

3.  We  refuse  to  sign  any  agreement  to  forfeit  money  due  for  quitting  work 
without  giving  notice. 

4.  We  demand  the  abolishment  of  the  "black-list"  forever. 

5.  No  prejudice  to  be  held  against  any  one  for  any  part  taken  by  them ;  we, 
leaving  here,  have  no  objections  to  any  one  going  to  work  in  our  places,  if 
they  do  so  on  conditions  required  above.     Any  one  going  to  work  in  our 
stead,  and  signing'  conditions  required  of  us  by  the  company,  we  shall  con- 
sider them  doing  an   injury  to  the  cause  of  labor,  and  unworthy  of  being  a 
citizen  of  the  great  Republic. 

In  reply  to  this,  the  following  is  the  only  agreement  the 
company  would  make:  "We  hereby  pledge  ourselves  that 
we  will  not  'black-list'  any  person  in  our  employ,  providing 
he  works  the  usual  notice,  and  leaves  the  company  in  an 
honorable  way." 

In  this  case  the  workmen  were  defeated,  by  parties  accept- 
ing the  terms  of  the  company.  The  Roll  Hands'  Union  suf- 


THE    AMALGAMATED    UNIONS.  28 1 

fered  a  period  of  decadence  from  the  date  of  its  second  annual 
convention,  up  to  the  time  the  Amalgamated  Association  was 
brought  about. 

The  President  and  Recording  Secretary  of  the  National 
Union  were  both  men  of  broad  views,  and  well  informed  on 
general  topics.  They  were  succeeded  by  David  A.  Plant  as 
President  and  William  Martin  as  Recording  Secretary.  No 
two  men  did  as  much  as  they  in  bringing  about  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  iron  and  steel  workers  of  the  United  States.  They 
served  in  their  official  capacity  for  two  years.  No  annual 
convention  was  held  by  this  organization  in  1875.  The  post- 
ponement of  this  convention  and  that  of  the  heaters'  organi- 
zation was  brought  about  by  correspondence  carried  on  by 
Mr.  William  Martin  with  the  subordinate  lodges  of  both 
organizations,  which  culminated  in  an  agreement  to  meet  in 
joint  session  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  for  the  purpose  of  drafting 
a  code  of  laws  to  govern  them  as  an  amalgamated  body. 
Thus  practically  the  unification  of  the  workmen  of  the  finish- 
ing departments  had  been  consummated  in  advance  of  the 
more  general  unification  of  all- iron  and  steel  workers  in  the 
Amalgamated  Association. 

THE    UNITED    NAILERS. 

This  organization  was  composed  of  only  a  few  local  lodges. 
A  national  lodge  had  never  been  formed.  These  lodges  were 
in  existence  at  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  Amalga- 
mated Association,  one  of  which  was  represented  at  the  con- 
vention, and  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Amalgamated 
Association. 

THE     AMALGAMATED     ASSOCIATION     OF     IRON     AND     STEEL 

WORKERS. 

The  first  official  action  taken  towards  bringing  about  the 
consolidation  of  the  preceding  organizations  was  by  the  Iron 
and  Steel  Roll  Hands'  Union,  at  its  convention  at  Columbus, 
O.,  in  April,  1874.  A  motion  was  carried  "That  this  conven- 
tion use  every  honorable  means  to  get  the  Roll  Hands'  Union, 
the  Heaters'  Association,  and  the  Boilers'  Union  confederated, 


282  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  that  a  delegate  be  elected  by  this  convention  to  confer 
with  the  heaters  at  their  next  convention."  Mr.  David  A. 
Plant  was  elected  to  attend  to  the  duty.  He  at  once  opened 
correspondence  with  the  President  of  th'e  Heaters'  and  Boil- 
ers' Union,  and  received  a  reply  stating  that  personally  he 
heartily  favored  the  movement.  In  July  following,  Mr. 
Plant  attended  the  Heaters'  Convention  at  Covington,  Ky., 
before  which  he  laid  the  action  taken  on  the  question  of 
amalgamation  by  the  Roll  Hands'  Union,  and  also  read  the 
communication  he  had  received  from  President  Harris.  After 
a  lively  debate  upon  the  subject  by  the  representatives  pres- 
ent, it  was 

Resolved,  That  there  be  a  committee  appointed  from  this  body  to  confer 
with  a  like  number  from  the  Rollers'  and  Boilers'  Union,  looking  to  the  con- 
solidation of  the  three  in  one. 

The  committee  selected  was  composed  of  Thomas  P.Jones, 
Richard  Sullivan,  and  John  Schreyer.  Mr.  Plant  addressed 
the  Boilers'  Union  in  August,  1874,  in  favor  of  the  proposed 
federation.  The  convention  took  favorable  action,  but  in  the 
haste  of  legislation  the  appointment  of  the  committee  was 
overlooked.  In  the  Annual  Convention  held  at  Philadelphia, 
in  August,  1875,  President  Harris  in  his  report  urged  very 
strongly  the  advantages  of  a  union  of  all  the  various  branches 
of  iron  workers. 

This  question  was  again  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Good 
of  the  Order.  In  the  meantime  arrangements  had  been  made 
by  the  Heaters'  and  Roll  Hands'  Union  to  dispense  with  hold- 
ing the  regular  annual  convention,  and  instead  to  meet  in 
joint  convention  for  the  purpose  of  consolidating.  This  joint 
convention  was  held  in  August,  1875,  at  the  same  time  the 
Boilers'  Convention  was  in  session  in  Philadelphia.  Favora- 
ble action  was  again  taken  on  the  question  of  amalgamation. 
Shortly  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention, 
President  Bishop,  of  the  Boilers'  Union,  opened  correspond- 
ence with  the  representatives  of  the  Heaters'  and  Roll  Hands' 
Union  It  was  arranged  that  the  committee  of  the  several 
organizations  meet  in  Pittsburgh  Penn.,  December  7,  1875. 


THE    UNION    PERFECTED.  283 

The  meeting  was  held  on  this  date.  The  following  are  the 
names  of  the  respective  committees  :  — 

Iron  and  Steel  Roll  Hands  :  David  A.  Plant,  Grand  Presi- 
dent;  William  Martin,  Grand  Recording  Secretary;  John 
W.  Fultz,  Grand  Treasurer. 

Associated  Brotherhood  of  Iron  and  Steel  Heaters,  Rollers 
and  Roughers  :  Richard  Sullivan,  Vice-Grand  Sire ;  Benja- 
min F.  Spangler,  Grand  Scribe ;  James  Penney,  Central 
Lodge  No.  10,  Pennsylvania ;  James  T.  Clites,  Wheeling 
Lodge  No.  i,  West  Virginia. 

United  Sons  of  Vulcan :  Joseph  Bishop,  President  National 
Forge;  Elisha  H.  McAnincle,  Deputy,  first  district;  David 
Reese,  Deputy,  second  district;  John  Jarrett,  Deputy,  sixth 
district. 

The  above  committee  formed  a  constitution  and  by-laws  for 
the  government  of  the  proposed  amalgamated  society.  The 
laws  thus  provided,  together  with  a  number  of  suggestions, 
were  published  and  submitted  to  all  the  lodges  and  forges 
throughout  the  country  for  their  inspection.  It  had  been 
arranged  that  the  several  conventions  of  the  Heaters',  Roll 
Hands'  and  Boilers'  organizations  should  meet  in  Pittsburgh, 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  August,  1876,  and,  after  disposing  of 
such  business  as  pertained  to  their  respective  bodies,  take  up 
the  subject  of  amalgamation.  Each  convention  favored  the  for- 
mation of  the  amalgamated  society.  Arrangements  were  then 
made  by  the  representatives  of  the  several  conventions  to  enter 
into  joint  convention  on  Thursday,  August  3,  1876.  At  the 
hour  appointed,  the  Boilers'  committee  met  the  representatives 
of  the  Heaters'  and  Roll  Hands'  organizations,  and  escorted 
them  to  the  hall  of  the  United  Sons  of  Vulcan. 

The  work  of  organization  was  at  once  entered  into  by  the 
election  of  James  Grundy,  of  Covington,  Ky.,  as  chairman  of 
the  convention,  and  William  Martin,  secretary.  The  number 
of  representatives  present  was  68,  divided  as  follows  :  Repre- 
sentatives from  the  Sons  of  Vulcan,  46 ;  Heaters'  Association, 
15  ;  Roll  Hands,  6;  Nailers'  Association,  i. 

The  constitution  and  by-laws  drafted  by  the  committee  at 
Pittsburgh,  in  December,  and  which  had  been  submitted  to 


284  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  various  lodges  and  forges,  were  adopted,  with  a  few  alter- 
ations. The  most  important  and  vital  question  brought  before 
the  convention  was  that  of  arbitration.  After  a  lengthy  de- 
bate the  convention  decided  against  arbitration  by  a  vote  of 
fifty  majority.  The  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  delegates 
present  was  one  of  caution  in  the  question  of  strikes,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  following  :  — 

Resolved,  That  every  representative  to  this  convention  be  instructed  to 
impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  members  of  their  respective  lodges  the  neces- 
sity of  using  every  precaution  in  guarding  against  strikes  or  any  other 
troubles  that  may  arise  during  the  first  year. 

The  preamble  to  the  constitution  expressed  the  views  and 
causes  that  led  to  amalgamation.  It  quoted  from  a  writer  on 
association,  setting  forth  "that  labor  has  no  protection;  the 
weak  are  devoured  by  the  strong ;  all  wealth  and  all  power 
centre  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  the  many  are  their  victims 
and  their  bondsmen."  It  set  forth  the  necessity  of  having  the 
most  perfect  and  systematic  arrangement  possible  to  attain  the 
highest  degree  of  success  in  any  undertaking  ;  that  to  acquire 
such  a  system  requires  that  the  business  should  be  controlled 
by  one  mind,  if  persons  so  controlling  were  actuated  by  pure 
and  philanthropic  principles ;  that  in  the  formation  of  a  na- 
tional amalgamated  association,  embracing  every  iron  and 
steel  worker  in  the  country  lay  their  only  hope,  concluding 
as  follows :  — 

We  ask,  is  it  charitable?  Is  it  humane?  Is  it  honest?  To  take  from  the 
laborer,  who  is  already  fed,  clothed  and  lodged  too  poorly,  a, portion  of  his 
food  and  raiment,  and  deprive  his  family  of  the  necessaries  of  life  —  by  the 
common  resort  —  a  reduction  of  his  wages?  It  must  not  be  so.  To  rescue 
our  trades  from  the  condition  into  which  they  have  fallen,  and  raise  ourselves 
to  that  condition  in  society  to  which  we,  as  mechanics,  are  justly  entitled, 
and  to  place  ourselves  on  a  foundation  sufficiently  strong  to  secure  us  from 
further  encroachments,  and  to  elevate  the  moral,  social  and  intellectual  con- 
dition of  every  iron  and  steel  worker  in  the  country,  is  the  object  of  our 
National  Association,  and  to  the  consummation  of  so  desirable  an  object,  we, 
the  delegates  in  convention  assembled,  do  pledge  ourselves  to  unceasing  effort. 

Section  2  of  the  constitution  stated  that  the  objects  of  this 
association  shall  be  to  obtain  by  conciliation,  or  by  other 
means  that  are  fair  and  legal,  a  fair  remuneration  to  the 


A  CHANGE  FOR  THE  BETTER.  285 

members  for  their  labor ;  and  to  afford  mutual  protection 
to  members  against  broken  contracts,  obnoxious  rules,  unlaw- 
ful discharge,  or  other  systems  of  injustice  or  oppression. 

The  National  Lodge  officers  elected  by  the  convention 
were  :  President  and  Secretary,  Joseph  Bishop ;  Treasurer, 
Edward  McGinness ;  Trustees,  David  A.  Plant,  William 
Martin,  and  John  Jarrett. 

The  salary  of  the  president  was  fixed  at  $1,500  for  the 
year. 

The  choice  of  Mr.  Bishop  for  the  presidency  was  a  very 
happy  one,  as  subsequent  events  clearly  proved.  The  con- 
ditions surrounding  the  new  organization  were  fraught  with 
difficulties  of  every  description.  The  most  dangerous  of 
these  were  the  antipathies  of  the  different  trades  towards 
each  other,  especially  between  the  puddling  and  finishing 
departments.  This  was  handled  in  a  masterly  way  by  Presi- 
dent Bishop,  and  to  all  appearances,  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year  of  the  existence  of  the  association,  seemed  to  be  al- 
most entirely  obliterated.  Fortunately,  the  first  year  was 
in  a  general  way  of  a  peaceable  character ;  but  very  few 
strikes  occurred,  and  what  did  were  of  minor  importance ; 
consequently  it  was  a  prosperous  year,  but  not  so  much  in  the 
material  growth  of  the  organization  as  the  advancement  in 
thought  and  progressiveness  of  the  membership.  A  change 
for  the  better  was  taking  place ;  the  impulsive,  hasty  senti- 
ment was  being  superseded  by  the  calm  and  dispassionate. 
Indeed,  so  great  were  the  strides  in  progress  and  intelligence, 
that  the  convention  which  met  at  Columbus,  in  1877,  has 
been  looked  upon  as  the  most  progressive  and  successful  ever 
held  by  the  iron  and  steel  workers  of  this  country.  It  was 
also  beyond  a  question  the  most  harmonious. 

Nothing  more  clearly  defines  the  position  of  the  member- 
ship at  this  time  than  the  resolutions  passed  in  reference  to 
the  serious  railroad  troubles  of  that  year.  They  declared : 
That  it  is  the  duty  of  workmen  to  combine  for  their  common 
protection ;  that  the  demand  for  a  restoration  of  the  late  re- 
duction and  the  modification  of  tyrannical  rules  and  orders 
was  just  and  proper ;  that  all  violations  of  law  tended  only 


286  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

to  injure  the  cause  and  those  engaged  therein ;  that  they 
were  ready  at  all  times  to  co-operate  with  other  organiza- 
tions to  resist  oppression  and  an  unnecessary  reduction  of 
wages ;  that  the  acts  of  lawlessness,  the  destruction  of  prop- 
erty, bloodshed  and  riotous  demonstrations  were  to  be  con- 
demned ;  that  the  arbitrary  power  assumed  by  corporations 
demanded  serious  and  careful  reflection  in  order  to  strip  them 
of  some  of  their  unlimited  powers  and  to  better  reward  labor  ; 
and  that  disagreements  between  employer  and  employee 
should  be  settled  by  representatives  of  both  sides  meeting 
together. 

The  second  year  brought  about  somewhat  of  a  reaction  in 
the  growth  of  the  organization,  due  to  the  depression  in  busi- 
ness. This  condition  of  affairs  continued  until  early  in  1879. 
Prices  kept  steadily  going  lower  up  to  October,  1878,  and 
remained  almost  stationary  for  four  months.  For  the  year 
ending  August,  1878,  eleven  new  lodges  were  organized,  and 
ten  became  defunct.  Strikes  now  began  to  multiply.  Sev- 
eral of  these  were  against  reductions  in  wages.  Others  were 
against  what  was  known  as  the  "contract"  system,  which 
was  a  kind  of  co-operation  offered  by  the  company,  in  which 
were  certain  conditions,  the  principal  of  which  was  that  the 
men  agreed  to  allow  the  company  to  retain  the  first  four 
weeks'  wages  in  hand,  and  also  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  all 
wages  earned  thereafter,  the  same  to  be  paid  to  men  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  if  the  profits  of  the  business  wrould  justify 
such  payment.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  reserved  wages 
were  invariably  lost  by  the  men.  Another  drawback  was  the 
failure,  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  to  enforce  the  law  on  the 
protective  fund.  This  law  provided  that  twenty-five  cents 
per  month  should  be  paid  by  each  member  for  the  purpose  of 
providing  a  fund  to  pay  members  on  strike.  Up  to  this  time 
this  law  had  not  crystallized.  This  was  a  source  of  annoy- 
ance to  the  president,  and  of  disaffection  among  the  members 
who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  find  themselves  on  strike.  The 
duties  of  the  president,  in  serving  as  secretary,  were  too 
onerous.  It  was  therefore  enacted  that  he  should  be  an  or- 
ganizer, and  attend  to  executive  duties  only,  at  a  salary  of 


A    HIGH    PROTECTIVE    TARIFF.  287 

$100  per  month.  He  was  also  empowered  to  appoint  a  sec- 
retary at  a  salary  of  $50  per  month.  Mr.  William  Martin 
was  selected  by  the  president  to  serve  as  secretary. 

The  "  old  rail "  question  at  this  time  became  a  source  of 
great  annoyance.  These  rails  were  largely  imported.  Be- 
sides this,  the  tin-plate  mills  were  closed  down  in  1878.  This 
brought  forth  an  expression,  as  the  sentiment  of  the  Amalga- 
mated Association,  in  resolutions,  passed  at  the  Third  Annual 
Convention,  held  at  Wheeling,  in  August,  1878.  These  reso- 
lutions set  forth  that  the  iron  manufacturers  had  introduced 
the  custom  of  making  finished  iron  out  of  old  rails,  thereby 
depriving  a  large  number  of  men  of  employment ;  and  a  com- 
mittee of  seven  was  appointed  in  each  congressional  district 
to  personally  visit  or  communicate  with  representatives  to 
Congress,  showing  the  evil  effect  of  admitting  old  rails  under 
the  existing  duties.  The  resolutions  also  demanded  two  and 
a  half  cents  duty  per  pound  on  tin  and  tern-plate.  The 
Amalgamated  Association,  and  the  other  iron  and  steel  work- 
ers' unions  before  it,  have  always  been  in  favor  of  a  high  pro- 
tective tariff;  but  it  was  seldom  that  such  emphatic  action  as 
this  just  referred  to  was  taken.  Mr.  Bishop  and  his  commit- 
tee went  to  Washington,  and  to  them  is  due  much  of  the 
credit  of  defeating  the  Wood  Tariff  Bill. 

Early  in  1879,  trade  began  to  revive  somewhat,  and  with 
it  the  organization  revived.  During  the  year  ending  at  the 
session  of  the  Fourth  Annual  Convention,  held  at  Youngstown, 
in  August,  1879,  twenty-seven  new  lodges  had  been  organ- 
ized. During  the  same  year  President  Bishop,  in  his  annual 
report,  said  :  "The  history  of  the  Associations  furnishes  no  par- 
allel to  the  past  year  for  strikes  and  disputes.  We  have  not 
been  without  a  strike  a  single  day  during  the  year."  These 
strikes  were  chiefly  in  the  East.  For  certain  reasons,  the  East 
had  never  been  successfully  organized.  Special  efforts  were  at 
this  time  put  forth  to  establish  unionism  in  the  eastern  mills ; 
these  were  partially  successful.  But  the  resulting  strikes 
seemed  to  have  a  paralyzing  influence  on  the  movement, 
which  necessitated  a  temporary  suspension  of  operations. 
Much  dissatisfaction  was  created  about  this  time  with  the 


288  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

National  Lodge  President,  and  his  methods  of  transacting  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  organizations.  This  also  caused  a  tem- 
porary set  back,  but  it  was  of  brief  duration.  The  president's 
salary  was  reduced  to  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  No 
change  was  made  in  that  of  the  secretary.  The  secretary 
was,  however,  made  an  elective  officer.  This  action  on  the 
part  of  the  convention  could  be  nothing  but  displeasing  to 
President  Bishop ;  for,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1880,  he  re- 
signed his  position  as  president.  He  resigned  chiefly  on 
account  of  the  reduction  of  his  salary  thirty-three  and  one- 
third  per  cent,  in  two  years.  He  said  the  men  themselves 
would  be  justified  in  complaining  at  any  such  reduction  at 
the  hands  of  their  employers  ;  that  a  strike  would  be  ordered, 
and  thousands  of  dollars  spent  to  support  the  men.  He 
thought  the  men  should  apply  the  same  principle  to  those 
they  chose  as  officers  to  work  for  them.  If  it  was  wrong  for 
their  employers  to  reduce  wages,  it  was  just  as  wrong  for  them 
also  to  reduce  the  pay  of  their  own  officers. 

The  author  of  this  chapter  was  elected  president  on  the 
loth  of  January,  1880,  and  at  once  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  office.  This  was  the  most  remarkable  year  the  asso- 
ciation ever  experienced  in  material  growth.  Mr.  Bishop 
had,  from  the  date  of  the  convention,  in  August,  up  to  the  ist 
of  January,  organized  thirty  new  lodges.  In  the  same  period 
of  time  five  became  defunct.  From  the  loth  of  January  to 
August,  1880,  forty-three  new  lodges  were  organized,  and 
three  became  defunct. 

The  iron  boom  which  started  in  1879  reached  its  highest 
point  in  February,  and  continued  at  this  point  until  early  in 
the  following  April,  when  suddenly  a  collapse  took  place, 
followed  by  one  of  the  most  remarkable  episodes  that  ever 
transpired  in  the  history  of  the  iron  trades.  In  the  short 
space  of  four  weeks,  dating  from  the  8th  of  April  to  the  5th 
of  May,  prices  fell  from  the  highest  point  reached  in  the  boom 
to  the  lowest  point,  a  fall  of  about  fifty  per  cent.  Under  the 
scales  of  prices  wages  fell  in  the  same  proportion ;  and  yet, 
sudden  as  this  reaction  in  wages  was,  everything  passed  of 
as  quietly  and  smoothly  as  though  nothing  extraordinary  had 


OLD    IRON    RAILS.  289 

happened.  Under  other  circumstances,  serious  strikes  would 
unquestionably  have  prevailed.  This  is  a  clear  proof  of  the 
advisability  and  utility  of  the  scale  of  prices  system  of  regu- 
lating wages. 

Notwithstanding  this  sudden  reaction  in  the  iron  trade,  the 
association  kept  on  improving.  It  was,  however,  becoming 
more  apparent,  as  time  passed  on,  that  new  evils  were  making 
themselves  felt.  The  National  Lodge  President,  in  briefly 
summing  up  these  in  his  annual  report,  at  the  convention  in 
Pittsburgh,  August,  1880,  said:  "Great  care  must  be  taken, 
or  our  growth  may  be  a  source  of  weakness  to  us.  Let  us 
not  trust  in  our  strength  ;  the  stronger  we  grow  the  more 
care  we  need  to  exercise." 

Strikes  were  very  prevalent  this  year,  especially  in  the 
Eastern  mills.  In  this  year  the  Philadelphia  workmen  de- 
manded a  scale  of  prices  to  govern  wages.  The  manu- 
facturers refused,  but  after  a  strike  of  nearly  two  months  a 
compromise  was  effected,  by  which  the  employers  agreed  to 
a  scale  which  provided  no  fixed  minimum.  Later,  however, 
came  the  successful  termination  of  the  strike,  by  which  the 
manufacturers  conceded  a  fixed  minimum  of  wages,  based  on 
a  manufacturers'  card  of  two  cents  per  pound  for  bar  iron. 
The  majority  of  strikes  ended  in  the  defeat  of  the  men.  The 
places  that  suffered  defeat  were  Valley  Falls,  R.I.,  Columbia, 
Birdsboro,  Catasanqua,  Manayank  and  McKeesport,  'Penn., 
and  Richmond,  Va.  All  of  these  are  Eastern  mills,  excepting 
McKeesport.  The  few  Western  mills  that  engaged  in  strikes 
were  generally  successful. 

The  convention  that  met  in  Pittsburgh,  August,  1880,  was 
by  far  the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  organization.  The 
number  of  officers  and  representatives  was  192.  The  question 
of  the  importation  of  old  iron  rails  and  scrap  was  still  a  source 
of  annoyance,  and  called  forth  the  following  resolution,  in- 
structing 

The  President  of  the  National  Lodge  to  call  a  meeting  in  each  district 
comprising  the  members  of  this  Association,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting 
one  representative  from  each  district  to  visit  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  there 
lay  before  Congress  our  grievance  on  the  above,  and  such  other  subjects,  as  we 
may  deem  of  interest  to  the  industries  of  our  country. 


290  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  members  of  this  convention  seemed  to  realize  the  im- 
portance of  paying  their  officers  a  decent  salary.  The  salary 
of  the  president  was  fixed  at  $1,200,  and  that  of  the  secretary 
at  $1,000  for  the  next  year. 

This  was  a  year  of  trials.  Strikes  of  greater  magnitude 
had  to  be  met,  and  some  of  these  were  of  such  serious  propor- 
tions as  to  entail  much  suffering  and  loss  on  both  employees 
and  employers.  The  most  important  of  these  was  that  of  the 
Harrison  Wire  Mill,  St.  Louis,  the  Steel  Works,  Pittsburgh, 
Chattanooga  and  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Spring- 
field, 111.,  and  the  Cincinnati  mills,  including  Wyandotte, 
Mich.,  Janesville,  O.,  Portsmouth,  O.,  and  Aurora,  Ind. 
Those  of  Pittsburgh,  Knoxville  and  Janesville  ended  in  the 
defeat  of  the  men.  The  Cincinnati  strike  was  caused  by 
the  employers  refusing  to  sign  the  scale  of  prices  presented 
by  the  men. 

Large  advances  in  wages  had  been  demanded  by  the 
workmen  of  the  different  branches  of  the  finishing  depart- 
ments, ranging  from  ten  to  thirty-six  per  cent.,  against  the 
advice  of  the  National  Lodge  president.  In  answer  to  this, 
the  employers  presented  a  scale  of  prices  which  was  practi- 
cally the  Pittsburgh  scale.  Several  conferences  were  held 
between  the  employers  and  the  workmen,  the  last  of  which 
was  on  June  16,  1881,  when  the  men  presented  their  ultima- 
tum, which  was  the  usual  prices,  viz.,  ten  per  cent,  above 
Pittsburgh.  This  the<employers  refused. 

The  Cleveland  Convention,  held  the  following  August, 
heartily  concurred  in  the  action  of  the  president  at  that  place, 
and  maintained  that  the  condition  of  affairs  there  was  en- 
tirely due  to  the  hasty  and  unwise  action  of  the  brothers  of 
the  Third  District. 

This  strike  is  referred  to  here  because  of  the  influence  it 
had  on  subsequent  events.  It  cost  the  organization  a  vast 
sum  of  money,  and  eventually  nearly  every  lodge  in  the 
district  became  defunct.  Not  a  single  mill  ever  regained  its 
lost  trade,  several  have  been  shut  down  ever  since,  and  those 
that  are  operated  are  run  only  part  time ;  and  this,  too,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  manufacturers  succeeded  in  establish- 


TROUBLOUS    TIMES. 


291 


ing  Pittsburgh  prices  as  the  rates.     The  strike  thus  ended 
with  disastrous  effects  to  both  sides. 

The  President  of  the  National  Lodge,  in  his  annual  report 
at  the  time,  after  referring  to  the  general  and  serious  aspect 
of  affairs,  said  :  — 

But  let  us  not  be  deceived,  for  we  are  now  on  the  eve  of  troublous  times. 
There  are  a  few  things  that  I  desire  to  present  to  you  for  your  consideration. 
In  the  first  place,  I  find  much  discontent,  perhaps  jealousy,  existing  between 
some  of  our  trades.  A  feeling  is  prevalent  that  because  one  department  may  be 
a  majority  in  numbers,  that  this  majority  is  against  the  minority  exercising 
their  legitimate  rights.  This  feeling  is  especially  suspicious  on  the  wages 
question.  It  has  caused  me  much  anxiety,  from  the  fact  that  internal  dissen- 
sion is  much  more  hurtful  than  any  external  influences,  and  requires  much 
sacrifice  and  patience  to  control.  What  remedy  have  we  for  this  growing 
evil?  I  answer,  the  cultivation  and  fostering  of  a  greater  degree  of  love  and 
charity  for  each  other,  more  confidence  in  the  integrity  and  honesty  of  each 
other,  more  self-denial,  and  desire  for  the  general  welfare  of  our  membership. 
To  assure  the  success  of  our  organization,  we  must  lay  by  small  bickerings, 
and  keep  in  view  the  fact  that  individual  benefit  depends  upon  the  general 
good. 

The  convention  did  all  that  possibly  could  be  done  to  pre- 
vent any  further  spread  of  these  feelings,  but  it  only  succeeded 
in  postponing  the  trouble. 

At  the  Cleveland  Convention, Canada  was  added  to  the  juris- 
diction of  the  National  Lodge.  It  made  colored  men  eligible 
to  become  members,  as  well  as  quite  a  number  of  trades, 
such  as  engineers,  boiler-tenders  and  firemen  directly  con- 
nected with  mills,  and  steel-converting  men  and  others  in 
Bessemer  steel  mills.  Blast-furnace  men  petitioned  for  ad- 
mission, but  their  petition  was  refused  to  the  lodges.  The 
convention  adopted  the  eight-hour  law  in  Bessemer  convert- 
ing and  rail  mills,  and  raised  the  president's  salary  to  $1,500, 
and  the  secretary's  salary  to  $1,300  per  annum.  Thirty  new 
lodges  were  organized  during  the  year,  and  eighteen  lodges 
became  defunct. 

The  iron  and  steel  workers  had  for  several  years  advocated 
a  federation  of  trades.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  they  were 
the  pioneers  of  the  movement  in  this  country.  The  Amal- 
gamated Association  of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers  were  repre- 
sented at  a  labor  congress,  held  in  Pittsburgh,  November 


292  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

15-19,  1881,  by  the  National  Lodge  president,  and  Secretary 
Martin.  This  was  the  only  year  the  association  was  repre- 
sented. The  cause  of  future  non-attendance  was  the  strik- 
ing out  of  resolution  n  of  the  platform,  which  provided  for 
"Protection  to  American  Industries."  The  year  1882  was 
the  most  remarkable  and  critical  in  the  history  of  the  asso- 
ciation. The  predictions  of  the  president  were  fully  veri- 
fied. Strikes  of  the  most  crucial  character  took  place.  Still, 
the  association  continued  to  prosper,  forty-six  new  lodges 
being  organized.  The  convention  which  met  in  Chicago,  in 
August,  1882,  was  the  largest  ever  held,  the  number  of  offi- 
cers and  representatives  present  being  213.  It  required  a 
session  of  nine  days  to  accomplish  its  work.  Many  impor- 
tant changes  were  made  in  the  constitution  and  by-laws, 
among  which  was  that  providing  for  district  conventions  for 
the  purpose  of  acting  on  the  scale  question.  Provision  was 
also  made  for  a  general  scale  convention,  to  which  the  action 
of  .the  several  district  conventions  would  be  submitted  for  rati- 
fication. This  law  is  still  in  force,  and  seems  to  work  remark- 
ably well. 

The  refusal  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  appoint 
a  labor  representation  on  the  Tariff  Commission  called  forth  a 
resolution  condemning  the  action  of  the  President  in  so  com- 
pletely ignoring  the  desires  and  interests  of  the  producing 
classes  in  the  formation  of  said  committee. 

The  strike  at  Homestead,  the  only  one  settled  among  those 
on  in  August,  1882,  was  to  all  intents  a  victory  for  the  asso- 
ciation. No  more  justifiable  strikes  ever  took  place  than 
those  of  Newburgh,  Erie  and  Phcenixville.  Each  of  these 
was  a  struggle  for  the  maintenance  and  recognition  of  the 
association.  Both  Newburgh  and  Phcenixville  were  strate- 
getic  points,  the  former  for  the  Western  and  the  last  for  the 
Eastern  mills.  While  they  were  at  this  most  critical  period, 
the  great  strike  of  Pittsburgh  and  the  Western  iron  mills  was 
inaugurated,  thus  drawing  away  the  support  of  these  two 
important  points,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of  the  men  and  of 
the  association. 

Much  speculation  exists  in  outside  circles  as  to  the  wisdom 


TRADES-UNION    LEADERS. 


A    SERIOUS    MISTAKE.  293 

or  folly  of  the  "great  strike"  of  1882.  It  was  brought  about 
by  the  workmen  in  all  departments  making  a  demand  for  a 
general  advance  in  wages  of  ten  per  cent.  Speaking  of  this 
strike  in  his  annual  report,  the  President  of  the  National 
Lodge  says : — 

The  prevailing  opinion  existing  among  the  men  of  the  First  District  prior 
to  the  ist  of  June  was  that  prospects  for  trade  were  good;  that  the  state  of  the 
markets  was  favorable,  and  everything,  in  fact,  in  favor  of  making  a  demand 
for  higher  wages  a  question  of  but  a  fe\v  days  before  it  would  be  decided  in 
our  favor.  So  unanimous  was  this  sentiment,  that  upon  a  final  vote  toeing 
taken,  it  was  almost  altogether  in  favor  of  striking.  I  most  earnestly  and 
heartily  fought  against  the  movement.  I  explained  that  stocks  were  very- 
heavy  on  the  market;  that  the  market  was  fairly  glutted  with  iron,  and  that 
prices  had  a  downward  tendency,  and  from  these  facts  I  tried  to  show  that  I 
believed  the  present  time  rather  hazardous  to  engage  in  a  strike.  I  further 
argued  that  the  result  of  the  Cincinnati  strike  was  yet  fresh  before  us,  even 
staring  us  in  the  face ;  that  serious  strikes  already  existed  at  Phoenixville  and 
Newburgh. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  here,  that  in  1880  the  minimum  of 
the  boilers'  wages  had  been  increased  from  $5  to  $5.50  per 
ton  on  a  two  and  a  half  cent  manufacturers'  card,  and  in  1881 
the  minimum  of  the  wages  of  most  of  the  finishing  depart- 
ments now  had  been  advanced  ten  per  cent.,  thus  equalizing 
the  advance  in  wages  to  all  the  several  departments.  As 
these  advances  had  been  attained  with  but  little  effort,  a  gen- 
eral feeling  existed  in  1882  that  if  the  demand  only  was 
made,  concession  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturers  was  sure. 
Then  again  the  great  strength  of  the  association  was  too 
largely  relied  upon.  Subsequent  events,  however,  proved 
that  a  serious  mistake  had  been  committed.  The  strike  was 
fully  ratified  by  the  Chicago  Convention,  and  this  at  a  time 
when  the  ,strike  had  been  in  existence  for  over  two  months. 
Still,  after  a  brave  struggle  of  over  four  months,  there  being 
but  little  sign  of  an  advance  in  prices  of  iron  in  the  market, 
the  association  withdrew  the  demand  for  the  ten  per  cent, 
advance  in  wages,  thus. ending  the  strike.  Work  was  re- 
sumed in  the  mills  at  the  old  rates.  The  influence  of  this 
strike  was  very  damaging,  especially  upon  the  morale  of  the 
membership.  The  antipathies  between  the  boilers  and  fin- 
ishers broke  out  with  greater  violence  than  ever,  and  internal 


294  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

dissensions  became  so  rife  as  to  put  the  association  to  the 
severest  tests.  To  add  to  the  confusion,  the  Bessemer  steel 
rail  manufacturers  notified  their  workmen  of  a  reduction  in 
wages  of  twenty  per  cent.  This  was  in  December,  1882. 
The  price  of  rails  had  decreased  from  $59  to  $45  per  ton 
during  the  year.  The  men  refused  to  accept  this  reduction, 
but  finally  offered  to  compromise  at  twelve  and  a  half  per 
cent.  This  was  rejected.  The  price  of  rails  was  still  going 
lower,  and  quoted  at  $43,  when  the  National  Lodge  presi- 
dent advised  the  acceptance  of  twenty  per  cent,  reduction  in 
wages.  This  the  men  refused  to  do.  A  few  days  later  the 
manufacturers  withdrew  the  proposed  reduction  of  twenty  per 
cent.,  and  instead  proposed  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent, 
reduction.  A  bitter  struggle  followed,  lasting  in  most  of  the 
works  for  fully  four  months,  when  the  workmen  agreed  to 
accept  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent.,  and  in  some  cases 
even  a  greater  reduction  in  wages.  The  organization  thus 
received  a  severe  set-back. 

The  number  of  lodges  instituted  during  the  year  endjng 
at  the  convening  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  in  August, 
1883,  was  34.  The  number  of  defunct  lodges  was  48, — 
a  net  loss  of  14  lodges.  Nineteen  of  these  were,  however, 
connected  with  closed  works,  and  quite  a  number  of  these 
works  are  still  idle.  The  number  of  officers  and  representa- 
tives present  at  the  Convention  of  1883  was  153.  At  this 
time  there  were  183  lodges  in  good  standing.  This  conven- 
tion was  the  last  one  at  which  the  author  of  this  chapter  pre- 
sided. He  had  notified  the  association  of  his  firm  determina- 
tion to  retire  from  office.  This  determination  was  formed 
simply  because  he  believed  a  change  would  be  beneficial  to 
the  welfare  of  the  organization.  The  true  relationship  be- 
tween the  retiring  president  and  the  association  is  shown  by 
the  following,  taken  from  the  Journal  of  Proceedings,  Phila- 
delphia Convention,  August,  1883  :  — 

The  next  business  that  came  before  the  convention  was  the  most  touching 
of  any  during  the  entire  session.  It  was  that  of  presenting  a  testimonial, 
procured  by  the  delegates,  to  President  Jarrett,  on  his  retiring  from  the  office 
of  president.  It  consisted  of  a  beautiful  gold-headed  cane,  and  an  elaborate 


PRESENTATION    TO    PRESIDENT  JARRETT.  295 

and  handsome  silver  set  of  seven  pieces,  the  inscription  on  which  read  : 
"  Presented  to  Mr.  John  Jarrett,  by  the  Delegates  to  the  Eighth  Annual-Con- 
vention. A.  A.  of  I.  &  S.  W.,  August,  1883."  It  had  been  quietly  arranged  to 
surprise  President  Jarrett,  and  it  was  carried  out  to  the  letter.  During  the 
presentation  speech  it  was  an  affecting  scene  to  see  the  commotion  among 
the  delegates,  but  few  dry  eyes  being  in  the  audience. 

Vice-President  John  I.  Davis  had  been  chosen  to  make  the 
presentation  speech,  and  in  it  he  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of 
the  retiring  president,  extolling  his  wisdom,  integrity,  fidelity 
and  efficiency  in  the  highest  terms,  and  claiming  him  as  one 
of  the  most  consistent,  fearless  and  foremost  champions  of 
labor.  The  presentation  was  a  complete  surprise  to  the 
president.  His  response  expressed  his  appreciation  of  this 
expression  of  esteem  for  him,  and  a  recognition  of  his  earnest 
labors  in  behalf  of  the  association.  Deafening  cheers  from 
the  delegates,  as  he  closed  his  speech,  testified  further  their 
regard  for  him. 

William  Weihe  was  elected  president  at  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  and  he  still  retains  that  position.  He  has  proved 
himself  an  admirable  leader.  Under  his  leadership  the  asso- 
ciation, though  under  adverse  circumstances,  still  maintains 
its  lead  among  the  trades-unions  of  the  country.  The  first 
and  second  years  of  his  incumbency  in  office  were  a  period  of 
decadence,  but  the  last  year  is  one  of  growing  prosperity  and 
rapidly  returning  strength.  The  decadence  referred  to  was 
partly  due  to  the  strikes  that  had  previously  taken  place. 
But  new  elements  of  discord  were  forcing  themselves  for- 
ward, breeding  discontent  and  animosities.  Secretary  Martin, 
in  referring  to  these  at  the  Wheeling  Convention,  in  1885, 
said  :  — 

Internal  dissensions,  stoppage  of  mills  in  whole,  or  in  part,  depression  in 
trade  almost  bordering  on  a  panic,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  nailers  and 
nail-feeders,  mainly  brought  about  by  a  cowardly,  cringing,  vacillating  mi- 
nority, have  all  combined  to  reduce  the  numerical  strength  of  the  organiza- 
tion in  the  past  year. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  nailers  was  due  directly  to  two 
causes :  first,  dissatisfaction  with  the  way  the  apprentice 
rules  were  enforced  by  President  Weihe ;  and,  second,  dif- 


296  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ference  of  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  demanding  extra 
price  for  cutting  steel  nails.  At  the  Scale  Convention,  held  in 
Pittsburgh,  April  5,  1884,  it  was  resolved  to  demand  twenty 
per  cent,  extra  for  cutting  steel  nails,  when  harder  than  iron. 
The  Wheeling  nailers  did  not,  it  appears,  enforce  this  de- 
mand. The  question  was  brought  up  before  the  Pittsburgh 
Convention,  in  1884,  when  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  vice-presidents  of  the  districts  be  instructed  to  compel 
all  nailers  in  this  association  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  scale  in  relation 
to  steel  nails. 

In  the  attempt  to  carry  out  his  resolution,  it  was  discovered 
that  the  nailers,  or  at  least  eighteen  out  of  twenty,  in  their  testi- 
mony before  the  investigating  board,  said,  "  that  the  steel  they 
were  working  was  equally  as  soft  as  iron,"  and  some  said 
"that  they  would  prefer  steel  to  iron  at  the  same  prices." 
This  testimony  was  not  kindly  received  by  the  membership 
in  general,  they  failing  to  conceive  how  steel  could  be  as  soft 
as  iron.  Still  the  matter  was  allowed  to  drop.  Early  in  1885, 
the  National  Lodge  officials  issued  a  circular  bearing  on  the 
wages  question,  and  the  prospects  of  a  reduction  in  wages. 
A  few  of  the  nailers  took  umbrage  at  this  circular,  and  pre- 
sumably for  the  purpose  of  protecting  themselves,  issued  a 
call  for  a  delegate  meeting  of  nailers,  to  be  held  in  Wheeling, 
February  5,  1885.  At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  to  with- 
draw from  the  Amalgamated  Association,  and  to  form  a  new 
organization,  to  be  called  "The  United  Nailers  of  America." 
All  the  lodges  composed  of  nailers  at  once  withdrew  from  the 
Amalgamated  Association,  and  formed  themselves  into  the 
new  organization.  The  action  of  the  nailers  in  withdrawing 
in  a  body  from  the  association,  together  with  the  loss  in 
membership,  did  not  have  the  demoralizing  effect  anticipated, 
but  proved  in  many  ways  to  be  extremely  beneficial.  Inter- 
nal and  personal  bickering  dissensions  gave  way  to  a  desire 
to  build  up  the  organization. 

In  the  adjustment  of  the  annual  scale  of  wages  in  June, 
1885,  the  association  agreed  to  a  reduction  of  ten  per  cent, 
in  all  departments  except  that  of  the  sheet-mills.  This  reduc- 


STRIKE    OF    THE    NAILERS.  297 

tion  was  based  on  a  reduction  of  the  base  of  the  manufacturers' 
card  from  two  and  one-half  to  two  cents.  This  conciliatory 
spirit  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  was  very  discreet.  Nothing 
more  clearly  demonstrates  this  than  the  result  of  the  nailers' 
action.  They  refused  to  accept  any  reduction,  the  manufac- 
turers having  proposed  a  reduction  from  twenty-one  cents  to 
seventeen  cents.  A  strike  ensued,  which  continued  through- 
out the  year,  resulting  in  disaster  to  the  nailers,  though  the 
year  has  been  one  of  upbuilding  to  the  Amalgamated  Asso- 
ciation. At  the  last  convention;  the  nailers  petitioned  the 
association  to  allow  them  to  return.  The  petition  was,  after 
a  lengthy  discussion,  conceded. 

In  a  general  way  but  very  few  strikes  of  importance,  out- 
side of  that  of  the  nailers,  have  taken  place  in  the  last  three 
years.  It  has  been  a  period  of  comparative  peace.  The 
changes  in  the  laws  have  been  of  but  a  moderate  character. 
The  stoppage  of  the  third  turn  in  sheet-mills  was  one  of  the 
most  important.  This  third  turn  in  sheet-mills  was  one  of  the 
few  instances  in  which  the  eight-hour  system  has  been  tried 
among  the  iron  workers.  In  some  few  mills  it  seemed  to 
work  very  satisfactorily ;  but,  as  it  could  not  be  applied  satis- 
factorily to  the  workmen  in  all  the  mills,  it  was  decided  to 
discontinue  the  system  altogether  in  sheet-mills.  The  eight- 
hour  system  is  still  carried  on  in  the  Bessemer  converting, 
and  in  some  cases,  finishing  mills.  The  association  is  in 
full  accord  with  the  general  eight-hour  movement,  and  favors 
the  system  in  all  instances  in  which  it  can  conveniently  be 
administered. 

The  association  seldom  takes  any  action  on  questions  of 
a  political  character.  It  is  severely  non-political.  It  never 
referred  to  party  politics  but  in  one  case,  and  that  in  connec- 
tion with  the  appointment  of  a  labor  representative  on  the 
Tariff  Commission.  Though  always  an  ardent  advocate  of 
a  protective  tariff,  it  was  such  from  an  economic  standpoint 
only.  The  following  is  a  close  expression  of  its  sentiments 
on  this  subject  :• — 

That  all  producers  and  manufacturers  should  bear  alike  equal  burdens  of 
taxation,  and  foreign  producers  and  manufacturers  should  not  be  exempted 


298  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

therefrom.  Our  tariff  should  at  all  times  be  so  adjusted  as  to,  at  least,  tax  them 
the  like  amount  of  tax  paid  by  home  producers  and  manufacturers  for  the 
support  of  local,  State  and  National  governments,  as  well  as  the  amount  of 
difference  in  the  wages  of  labor  and  cost  of  manufacture,  and  the  ruling  rate 
of  interest  in  this  country,  so  that  American  capital  and  labor  invested  in  the 
productive  industries  of  the  land  shall  be  placed  upon  an  equal  footing  in  our 
own  home  markets  with  foreign  capital  and  labor,  and  not  discriminated 
against  by  national  legislation.  Our  government  has  neither  the  moral  nor 
political  right  to  discriminate  against  home  capital  and  labor  in  its  tariff  legis- 
lation, and  against  any  such  policy  we  are  unalterably  opposed.  We  there- 
fore favor  a  tariff  so  adjusted  as  to  give  to  our  people,  who  pay  the  taxes  and 
support  the  government,  adequate  protection  against  foreign  competition,  and 
place  them  upon,  at  least,  an  equal  footing  with  foreign  competition,  in  our 
home  markets.  We  also  favor  the  abolition  of  internal  revenue  taxes,  and  if, 
after  their  abolition,  further  reduction  of  taxation  by  the  National  Govern- 
ment shall  be  desired  at  any  time,  it  shall  be  done  by  placing  on  the  free  list 
such  articles  as  do  not  enter  into  competition  with  home  productions  and 
manufactures ;  but  in  no  case  should  the  tariff  upon  such  articles  as  do  enter 
into  competition  with  them  be  placed  at  lower  duties  than  shall  be  required  to 
maintain  and  keep  them  upon  a  footing  with  foreign  competitors. 

In  the  former  part  of  this  chapter,  reference  is  made  to  the 
iron  workers  as  being  the  pioneers  of  the  "  Federation  of 
Trades."  At  their  last  convention,  it  was  determined  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  movement.  We  cannot  give  the  rea- 
sons for  this,  unless  it  be  that  the  Amalgamated  Association 
expect  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  will  eventually  represent, 
or,  what  is  more  proper,  actually  be  the  "  Confederation  of 
Trades."  The  question  of  affiliation  with  the  Knights  of 
Labor  was  submitted  by  the  convention  to  the  subordinate 
lodges  for  their  consideration.  The  next  convention  will  take 
action  on  the  subject. 

The  association  is  not  a  beneficial  order,  in  the  sense  of  pro- 
viding for  sickness  and  death  among  its  membership.  In  the 
case  of  disabled  members,  the  result  of  serious  accidents,  in 
the  mills  voluntary  subscriptions  are  generally  taken  up  —  a 
plan  that  has  always  worked  very  successfully.  Sums  of 
from  $1,000  to  nearly  $3,000  have  been  realized  in  this  way, 
and  the  disabled  member  would  be  started  in  a  lucrative  busi- 
ness. It  can  be  said  of  the  iron  and  steel  workers,  that,  as  a 
rule,  they  are  generous  and  charitable  towards  a  brother  who 
happens  to  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  meet  with  serious  bodily 
harm,  and  become  unable  to  follow  his  occupation,  or  perform 


CONCILIATION. 


299 


other  manual  labor  to  earn  a  living.  The  National  Labor 
Tribune  has  been  the  official  organ  of  the  association  for  over 
ten  years. 

Mr.  Martin,  the  secretary  of  the  association,  has  served  in 
that  capacity  for  nine  years.  He  is  a  man  of  rare  ability, 
and  for  care  and  fidelity,  unsurpassed.  The  whole  office  work 
of  the  association  is  conducted  on  strictly  business  principles  ; 
and  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Martin,  it  may  be  said  that  no  seri- 
ous error  ever  occurred  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  associa,- 
tion  during  his  official  career.  The  salary  of  the  secretary, 
at  present,  is  $1,170  per  annum,  and  that  of  the  president  is 
$-1,350  per  annum. 

ARBITRATION    AND    CONCILIATION. 

The  Amalgamated  Association  never  advocated  arbitration 
as  a  means  of  settling  disputes,  or  regulating  wages.  It  is 
somewhat  singular,  too,  to  observe  that  though  a  strong  sen- 
timent in  favor  of  arbitration  existed  among  the  iron  and  steel 
workers  up  to  the  period  of  the  organization  of  the  Amalga- 
mated Association,  since  then  it  has  steadily  been  growing 
weaker,  until  at  the  present  time  the  feeling  is  one  of  strong 
opposition.  The  association  is,  however,  heartily  in  favor  of 
conciliation.  By  conciliation  is  meant  the  right  to  settle  or 
prevent  labor  differences  by  conferences  between  the  parties 
interested,  or  their  authorized  representatives,  these  confer- 
ences having  no  power  to  reach  a  decision  only  as  the  result 
of  mutual  agreement.  But  arbitration  provides  for  a  third 
party  to  pronounce  judgment,  should  the  interested  parties 
or  their  representatives  fail  to  reach  a  settlement.  It  is  not, 
however,  so  much  the  third-party  idea  as  other  matters  that 
cause  the  association  to  oppose  arbitration.  They  maintain 
that  arbitration  does  not  and  cannot  protect  the  workingman  : 
because,  first,  there  is  no  fixed  amount  that  can  be  considered 
as  fair  profits  to  the  employer ;  second,  no  provision  is  made 
to  provide  a  fixed  minimum  in  wages  or  prices,  and  conse- 
quently under  the  laws  of  free  competition  it  is  possible  that 
prices  may  go  so  low  as  to  make  reasonable  wages  an  impos- 
sibility. As  an  illustration  of  this  fact  they  point  to  the  opera- 


3OO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

tion  of  arbitration  among  the  iron  workers  of  the  North  of 
England,  where  prices  of  iron  have  become  so  low  as  to 
leave  the  wages  of  the  workmen  so  meagre  that  respectable 
living  is  out  of  the  question.  Under  arbitration  in  England, 
the  price  of  puddling  is  reduced  to  six  shillings  and  three 
pence,  or  $1.50  per  ton,  with  the  possibility  that  it  may  be 
yet  further  reduced ;  when  with  conciliation,  in  this  country, 
the  price  of  puddling  is  $5.00  per  ton,  which  is  the  minimum, 
based  on  a  two  cents  manufacturers'  card. 

The  Amalgamated  Association  place  a  great  deal  of  im- 
portance on  the  fixity  of  a  minimum  in  wages.  The  principle 
is,  beyond  question,  a  correct  one  ;  for  the  argument  involved 
is  that  the  first  consideration  to  be  accepted  is  of  greatest  im- 
portance in  the  laws  of  production  —  is  reasonable  wages  to 
labor.  It  is  a  common  saying  among  iron  workers,  "  let  us 
take  care  to  secure  fair  wages,  and  prices  may  take  care  of 
themselves."  They,  however,  while  professing  to  be  a  com- 
bination to  maintain  reasonable  wages,  also  advocated  combi- 
nations among  manufacturers  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
prices  at  a  reasonable  level.  The  idea  of  the  manufacturers, 
by  so  doing,  becoming  a  monopoly,  is  absurd  and  ridiculous, 
because  the  scales  of  prices  provide  that  the  wages  paid  are 
based  on  the  selling  prices  of  iron,  whatever  that  may  be  ;  but 
wages  are  not  affected  when  iron  sells  below  the  minimum 
price  recognized  by  the  association. 

Conciliation,  as  a  means  of  settling  labor  disputes  between 
the  iron  manufacturers  and  their  employees,  has  been  in 
operation  for  nearly  twenty-two  years.  The  appointment  of 
conference  committees  representing  each  side,  dates  back  to 
January,  1865.  The  result  of  this  —  the  first  meeting  of  what, 
as  many  term,  the  Conciliation  Board  —  was  the  adoption  of 
the  following  scale  of  prices  :  — 

MEMORANDUM  OF  AGREEMENT, 

Made  this  I3th  day  of  February,  1865,  between  a  committee  of  Boilers  and  a 
committee  from  the  Iron  Manufacturers,  appointed  to  fix  a  scale  of  prices  to 
be  paid  for  boiling  pig  iron,  based  on  the  manufacturers'  card  of  prices,  it 
being  understood  either  party  shall  have  the  right  and  privilege  to  terminate 
this  agreement  by  giving  ninety  days'  notice  to  the  other  party,  and  that  there 


SCALE    OF    PRICES.  301 

shall  be  no  deviation  without  such  notice.  When  the  manufacturers'  card  of 
prices  are  at  the  rate  named  below,  the  price  for  boiling  shall  be  at  the 
prices  opposite,  per  ton  of  2,240  pounds  :  — 

Manufacturers.  Boilers. 

8i  cents  per  pound  .         .       .  .         .         .  $9  oo 

Si      "      "        " 8  75 

8        "      "  S  50 

7l      "      "        "           825 

7^  and  7^  cents  per  pound               .         .  8  oo 

7     and  6^       "         "         "    .         .         .         .  7  50 

6i  and  6^       "         "         "         .         .         .  7  oo 

6    and  5!       """....  6  50 

$h  and  5i       "         "         "         .         .         .  .      6  oo 

5    and  4!       """....  5  75 
4«fe  and  4^                                       ....      5  50 

4     and  3!                  "         "    .         .         .         .  5  oo 

3i  and  3i       ".        "         "         .         .         .  .4  75 

3     and  2$       """....  4  50 

2^  cents  per  pound           .         .         .         .  4  oo 

The  adoption  of  this  scale  was  hailed  by  all  as  an  era  of 
peace ;  but,  as  subsequent  events  showed,  they  were  disap- 
pointed. Iron  declined  from  seven  and  one-half  cents  in 
February,  to  four  cents  in  July ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  the 
price  for  puddling  declined  in  the  proportion  stipulated  by 
the  scale.  Impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  basis  of  the 
scale  was  too  low,  the  puddlers  gave  the  required  ninety 
days'  notice,  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  to  terminate  the 
agreement.  At  the  expiration  of  the  notice,  the  price  of 
iron  had  advanced  slightly,  giving  the  puddlers  $6.00  per 
ton,  whereupon  they  demanded  and  received  $2.00  per  ton 
of  an  advance,  making  the  price  $8.00  per  ton.  The  latter 
figure  prevailed  as  the  price  for  puddling  from  October,  1865, 
to  October,  1866,  when  the  puddlers,  believing  that  the  price 
of  iron  justified  their  action,  demanded  an  advance  of  $1.00 
per  ton,  which  was,  with  considerable  reluctance,  conceded 
by  the  manufacturers.  About  two  months  later,  the  manu- 
facturers gave  evidence  of  an  unwillingness  to  continue  pay- 
ing the  prices,  and  finally  served  notice  of  a  reduction  of 
$2.00  per  ton.  This  the  workmen  promptly  rejected,  when 
a  general  lock-out  resulted  in  all  the  Pittsburgh  and  adjacent 
mills.  The  lockout  lasted  from  December,  1866,  to  May, 


302  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

1867,  when  it  terminated  by  the  manufacturers  paying  the 
old  price  of  nine  dollars  per  ton.  At  the  close  of  the  lock 
out,  the  Boilers'  Union,  with  the  view  of  cultivating  a  better 
feeling  between  the  workmen  and  the  manufacturers,  and  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  further  strikes,  resolved  to  ask  a 
conference  with  manufacturers,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting 
a  scale  of  prices.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  negotiate 
with  the  manufacturers.  They  at  once  prepared  and  ad- 
dressed a  circular  to  the  employers,  in  which  they  favored  the 
establishment  of  a  rule  fixed  upon  the  average  price  of  the 
different  grades  of  manufactured  iron,  as  a  basis  by  which  the 
wages  of  labor  should  be  governed.  They  allowed  a  reason- 
able time  for  the  consideration  of  the  proposition,  and  asked 
for  a  conference  between  a  committee  of  the  employers  and  a 
committee  of  the  men. 

The  manufacturers,  in  due  course  of  time,  responded  affirm- 
atively to  the  above  circular,  when  conference  committees 
were  selected  by  each  side,  who  convened  and  after  several 
meetings,  agreed  "That  nine  dollars  per  ton  shall  be  paid 
for  boiling  iron,  until  the  iyth  day  of  August,  1867.  From 
that  date  until  the  i$th  day  of  September,  eight  dollars  shall 
be  paid  ; "  and  a  regular  scale  of  prices  was  provided  after  the 
latter  date,  it  being  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  reduction  or  ad- 
vance, in  the  price  of  boiling,  for  each  change  of  one-quarter 
of  a  cent  per  pound  on  card  rates.  Either  party  to  this 
agreement  could  terminate  it  by  giving  thirty  days'  notice 
to  the  other  party.  In  1871,  by  mutual  consent,  slight  tech- 
nical change  was  made  in  the  scale.  It  was  arranged  that 
the  manufacturers'  card  rates  should  rise  and  fall  by  tenths  in 
place  of  by  one-fourths ;  the  price  of  boiling  to  advance  and 
decline  ten  cents  on  each  one-tenth  manufacturers'  card. 

For  a  period  of  seven  years  following  the  adoption  of  the 
foregoing  scale,  the  relations  of  employers  and  employees 
were  uninterrupted.  The  gradual  decline  in  the  price  of 
iron  from  five  cents  per  pound  in  January,  1873,  to  two 
and  one-half  cents  per  pound  in  the  fall  of  1874,  together 
with  a  falling  off  in  the  demand,  caused  the  manufacturers, 
in  October  of  the  latter  year,  to  request  a  conference  with 


FAILURE    OF   A    LOCKOUT.  303 

the  workingmen.  At  this  meeting,  the  manufacturers  gave 
the  required  thirty  days'  notice  to  terminate  the  scale.  They 
also  demanded  the  following  change  in  the  "Scale  of  Prices," 
viz.  :  a  reduction  of  one  dollar  per  ton  for  puddling  on  the 
basis  of  the  present  scale  ;  that  is,  when  iron  is  selling  at  three 
cents,  boiling  shall  be  $5  per  ton,  and  $4.50  on  a  two  and 
a  half  cent  card.  It  Avill  be  observed  that  this  was  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  base  of  the  scale.  Several  conferences  were  held 
between  the  committees  of  the  Boilers'  Union  and  the  manu- 
facturers, but  no  decision  could  be  reached.  Finally,  as  trade 
was  depressed  and  wages  generally  were  low,  the  workmen's 
committee  proposed  to  knock  off  the  limitation,  and  allow  the 
card  to  drop  to  two  and  a  half  cents,  boiling  at  that  rate  to 
be  $5.50  per  ton.  But  the  manufacturers  would  not  deviate 
one  iota  from  the  stand  they  had  taken.  A  lockout  fol- 
lowed, which  lasted  for  five  months.  On  the  I4th  day  of 
April,  1875,  tne  Association  of  Iron  Manufacturers  held 
a  meeting,  and  resolved  to  accept  the  terms  of  the  boilers, 
and  resumed  operations  by  signing  a  scale  of  prices  which 
was  ten  cents'  advance  or  reduction  for  each  change  of  two 
dollars  per  ton  on  card.  Either  party  to  this  agreement  could 
terminate  the  same  by  giving  thirty  days'  notice  to  the  other 
party. 

The  continued  depression  in  business,  and  consequent  de- 
cline in  prices  of  iron,  kept  matters  in  a  very  discouraging 
condition,  with  no  immediate  hope  of  relief;  the  manufac- 
turers contending,  in  the  meantime,  that  they  were  losing 
money,  and  justly  unable  to  continue  paying  the  wages, 
according  to  the  scale. 

In  October,  1875,  the  scale  was  again  set  aside  by  the 
action  of  the  manufacturers,  and  committees  were  called  to- 
gether to  consult  over  a  reduction.  The  price-list  of  iron  had 
fallen  to  two  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  while  large  quanti- 
ties were  being  sold  at  a  much  less  figure ;  in  fact,  everything 
became  confused,  and  all,  apparently,  sold  at  prices  best 
suited  to  themselves.  The  subject  for  consideration  before 
the  conference  committee  was  not  so  much  the  adoption  of  a 
scale  of  prices  as  the  devising  of  some  means  and  the  adop- 


304  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

tion  of  a  rate  of  wages  as  would  enable  all  to  tide  over  the 
difficulties  that  oppressed  them.  The  manufacturers  insisted 
that  boiling  should  be  reduced  to  $4.50  per  ton.  A  com- 
promise was  at  last  effected,  early  in  December,  providing  that 
wages,  up  to  December  I3th,  should  be  at  the  rate  of  $5.00 
per  ton,  and  from  December  I3th  to  February  14,  1876,  the 
wages  were  to  be  $4.75  per  ton.  Aftef  the  expiration  of  the 
above  date,  the  committees  again  convened,  but  failed  to 
effect  any  definite  arrangement,  and  finally  separated  with  the 
understanding  that  each  and  every  firm  was  at  liberty  to  act 
as  they  thought  best.  The  boilers,  however,  resolved  to 
accept  no  further  reduction,  so  that  $4-75  continued  to  be  the 
price  paid  till  May,  1875.  Early  in  May,  the  committee  again 
met,  but  failed  to  arrive  at  any  agreement.  The  men  had 
observed  that  up  to  this  time  the  manufacturers  had  always 
made  their  attempts  to  reduce  the  scale  in  the  winter.  To  ob- 
viate this  in  the  future,  it  was  determined  to  make  the  scale  of 
prices  operative  for  one  year,  dating  from  June  ist  of  each 
year.  Having  failed  in  agreeing  upon  a  scale  with  the  manu- 
facturers, the  boilers  presented  a  scale,  being  a  reduction  of 
fifty  cents  per  ton  for  boiling  on  a  two  and  a  half  cent  card. 
The  scale  was  accompanied  with  the  notification  that,  unless 
agreed  to  by  the  manufacturers,  they  (the  boilers)  would  cease 
working  after  the  3ist  of  May.  The  manufacturers  refused 
to  sign  this  scale,  and  as  a  result  the  mills  stopped.  The 
suspension,  however,  lasted  only  about  two  weeks,  when  the 
manufacturers  signed  the  scale,  and  for  the  first  time  work 
was  resumed,  with  the  assurance  that  for  one  year  at  least  the 
wages  question  was  settled.  Upon  the  recurring  month  of 
June,  1877,  the  same  proceedings  were  enacted ;  also  in  June, 
1878,  and  June,  1879.  In  June,  1880,  a  demand  of  fifty 
cents  per  ton  advance  was  made  by  the  boilers  on  the  two  and 
a  half  cents  card,  and,  after  a  stoppage  of  a  few  days  over  a 
week,  it  was  conceded  by  the  manufacturers.  The  scale  of 
1880  was  operative  for  five  years,  when  the  base  was  reduced 
to  $5.00  per  ton  on  a  two  cent  card. 

The  only  scales  of  prices  adopted  previous  to  June,  1880, 
to  govern  the  finishing  departments  were  those  of  the  Guide 


TABLE    OF    PRICES. 


305 


Mills,  made  on  the  2d  day  of  April,  1872,  and  the  Bar  Mills, 
made  on  the  ijth  day  of  October,  1879. 

The  agreement  was  entered  into  between  the  committee  of 
the  Manufacturers'  Association  and  a  committee  of  the  Amal- 
gamated Association  of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers,  at  Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.,  June  25,  1886.  This  scale  of  prices  covers 
every  possible  detail  of  boiling,  muck  or  puddle  mill,  bar 
and  nail-plate  mill,  guide,  ten-inch,  hoop  and  cotton-tie  mills, 
with  its  different  departments  of  nut  iron,  channel  iron,  "T" 
iron,  angles,  clip,  or  wagon  strap,  hame  iron,  ten-inch  mill, 
and  hoop  and  cotton-tie  mills ;  also  plate  and  tank  mills, 
sheet  mills,  Birmingham  wire-gauge,  and  nail-cutting.  The 
space  of  this  chapter  will  not  permit  of  the  introduction  of 
the  figures.  The  following  table,  however,  will  be  of  interest, 
as  showing  the  wide  range  in  prices  :  — 

AVERAGE     PRICES    OF    THE     FOLLOWING    ARTICLES     FOR    THK 
LAST    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS. 


DATES. 

Anthracite  Foundry 
Iron,  Philadelphia, 
per  ton. 

Refined  Bar  Iron,  at 
Stores,  Philadelphia, 
per  ton  of  2,240  Ibs. 

Bessemer  Steel  Rails, 
in  Pennsylvania,  per 
ton. 

Cut  Nails,  per  keg. 

1860 

$efi  Ttf 

$3  J3 

1861   

20  75 

60  83 

2  75 

]S62                   

21  87 

3  47 

iSfij 

1  DA 

1864  

TO  2C 

7  85 

1865                

46  12 

106  38 

7  08 

1866 

46  87 

6  97 

44  12 

87  08 

5  92 

1868 

V)  2s 

85  63 

$158  50 

5  '7 

1869      ...     

4.0  62 

Si  66 

'32  25 

4  87 

1870  

33  25 

78  96 

106  75 

4  4° 

1871  . 

3^  12 

7S  54 

1  02  50 

4  52 

1872                    

48  87 

97  "3 

112  OO 

5  46 

1871 

86  43 

1  20  50 

4  9° 

1874  

3°  25 

67  95 

94  25 

3  99 

1871;  . 

25  50 

60  85 

68  75 

3  42 

1876 

22  25 

52  08 

59  25 

298 

1877  

18  87 

45  55 

45  50 

2  57 

1878                  •   .... 

17  O2 

44  24 

42  25 

2  31 

1879  

21  SO 

5i  85 

48  25 

1880            .      

28  50 

60  38 

67  50 

3  68 

]8Si         

25  13 

58  05 

61  13 

3  °9 

1882  

25  75 

61  41 

48  50 

3  47 

1883  

22  35 

5°  3° 

37  75 

306 

!SS4  

19  87 

44  05 

3°  75 

2  39 

1885            

18  oo 

40  32 

28  50 

2  33 

306  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


STRIKES. 

The  story  of  the  iron  workers  would  be  quite  incomplete 
without  reference  to  their  strikes.  And  yet  these  contests, 
so  important  to  the  manufacturers  and  so  vital  to  the  work- 
men, had  a  similarity  of  cause,  progress,  and  result  that 
would  render  their  history  much  alike  to  the  general  reader. 
This  topic,  therefore,  through  lack  of  space  to  present  the 
interesting  and  instructive  details,  must  be  treated  in  the 
briefest  manner.  Strikes  and  lockouts  were  known  forty 
years  ago,  or  more.  The  Sons  of  Vulcan  had  few  strikes, 
the  sentiment  of  the  workmen  being  conservative.  The  re- 
vival in  the  iron  business,  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
caused  the  workmen  to  be  more  aggressive,  and  they  gained 
about  all  the  advances  they  asked.  Finally,  a  conference 
committee,  suggested  by  Mr.  B.  F.  Jones,  adopted  a  scale  of 
prices  in  February,  1865.  This  caused  a  rapid  reduction  in 
wages,  corresponding,  of  course,  with  the  rapid  fall  in  the 
price  of  iron.  Then  followed  strikes  and  lockouts,  generally 
favorable  to  the  workmen,  until  a  new  scale  of  prices  was 
adopted  in  July,  1867.  During  a  lockout,  from  December, 
1866,  to  May,  1867,  an  attempt  was  made  to  employ  work- 
men brought  from  Europe,  but  they  proved  incompetent. 
There  were  few  strikes  until  1869,  but  from  that  year  until 
1874  was  a  period  of  bitter  conflicts.  Most  of  the  strikes 
and  lockouts  were  over  wages,  but  some  were  simply  con- 
tests for  supremacy.  In  the  winter  of  1874,  a  big  strike 
occurred  at  Pittsburgh  against  a  reduction  in  the  base  of  the 
.scale  and  in  wages  in  general.  This  was  the  bitterest  and 
most  hotly-contested  lockout  in  the  history  of  the  iron 
workers.  The  men  were  in  destitute  circumstances,  and 
ill-prepared  for  a  lockout  at  such  a  season.  They  believed 
that  it  was  a  crusade  against  their  organization,  and  they  had 
good  reasons  for  such  a  belief.  During  this  lockout  the  work- 
men refused  arbitration,  believing  it  impossible  to  secure  fair, 
impartial  arbitrators,  as  public  opinion  was  against  them. 
Finally,  the  manufacturers  agreed  to  start  their  works  on  the 
terms  demanded  by  the  workmen. 


STRIKES    AND    LOCKOUTS.  307 

It  appears,  from  the  records  of  the  Sons  of  Vulcan,  that  from 
1867  to  1875  there  were  87  legalized  strikes  within  their  juris- 
diction, of  which  69  were  for  rates  and  payment  of  wages,  16 
for  administration  of  works,  and  two  for  miscellaneous  reasons. 
As  near  as  can  be  learned,  28  terminated  in  favor  of  the  work- 
men, 22  favorable  to  the  employers,  21  were  compromised, 
and  1 6  are  doubtful.  The  Amalgamated  Association  had  few 
strikes  in  its  first  and  second  years,  and  generally  succeeded 
in  those  few.  In  its  third  year,  the  Pennsylvania  manufac- 
turers attempted  to  destroy  it  by  discharging  its  leading  men. 
During  the  next  year,  the  fight  was  kept  up  by  the  Eastern 
manufacturers.  Many  strikes  occurred  in  both  these  years  ; 
and  the  men  were,  as  a  rule,  defeated.  "Wages  were  increased 
in  some  places  in  1880  and  1881,  and  this  increase  caused 
strikes  in  other  places  for  a  like  advance.  Some  of  these 
were  successful,  while  others  failed.  Other  strikes  followed, 
aimed  directly  at  the  association,  and  then  came  the  great 
strike  known  as  "the  Pittsburgh  strike  of  1882."  A  reckless 
desperation  seemed  to  prevail  everywhere  among  workmen 
and  employers.  At  the  Chicago  Convention  the  author, 
hoping  to  bring  about  sober  second  thought,  discussed  the 
situation  at  length,  urging  the  men  to  cultivate  a  higher 
moral  tone,  and  to  act  only  from  principles  of  right,  as  well 
as  impressing  upon  them  the  injury  done  themselves  and  their 
cause  by  unjustifiable  strikes.  But  there  seemed  to  be  no 
abatement  of  the  striking  spirit.  The  great  strike  of  Pitts- 
burgh ended  in  favor  of  the  employers.  In  the  latter  part  of 
1882  and  the  first  seven  months  of  1883,  twenty  strikes  and 
one  lockout  occurred,  nearly  all  of  which  were  precipitated 
by  the  workmen,  and  ended  disastrously.  In  my  last  annual 
report,  I  said  :  — 

Strikes  have  their  causes,  and  these  causes  exist  either  on  the  part  of  em- 
ployers or  employees.  Every  opposition  to  wrong  is  a  strike ;  but  a  strike  is 
not  always  an  opposition  to  wrong.  Thus  it  is  that  strikes  are  sometimes  a 
mistake,  and  become  an  absolute  wrong  in  themselves.  Such  strikes,  when 
entered  into,  usually  terminate  against  the  aggressive  party,  but  not  always  so; 
for  we  have  to  admit  that  might,  not  right,  is  often  the  deciding  factor  in  these 
questions.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  too  much  care  cannot  be  taken  to 
prevent  unjust  and  uncalled-for  strikes.  Full  and  justifiable  cause  should  exist. 


308  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  every  recourse  exhausted  before  the  final  step  is  taken.  It  is  very  wrong 
to  assume  that  all  strikes  emanate  from  the  workingmen  ;  for  the  facts  teach 
us,  in  our  departments  of  labor  at; least,  that  the  employers  are  very  often  the 
instigators  of  strikes. 

Early  in  1884,  all  the  strikes  of  any  consequence  had  been 
settled,  with  the  exception  of  that  at  Birmingham,  Ala.  In 
the  case  of  this  one,  the  reaction  following  all  spasmodic 
movements  now  set  in.  A  sudden  and  violent  revulsion  of 
feeling  and  sentiment  manifested  itself  against  strikes  ;  and, 
from  that  time  to  the  present,  no  strikes  of  any  magnitude 
have  occurred. 

The  total  number  of  legalized  strikes  entered  in  the  records 
of  the  association  from  1876  to  1885,  inclusive,  was  93,  the 
causes  of  which  were  as  follows  :  Wages,  61  ;  Unionism,  17  ; 
Signing  of  Scale,  3;  Miscellaneous,  12.  Of  these  28  were 
successful ;  61  were  unsuccessful ;  4  were  compromised. 
Startling  as  these  results  appear  to  be,  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  no  good  has  been  accomplished  by  strikes.  We 
may  yet  discover  that  these  are  side-lights  by  the  way,  leading 
us  to  a  higher  state  of  intelligence.  To  the  association  they 
may  prove  to  be  the  "baptism  of  fire"  in  preparing  it  for  more 
useful  work  in  the  future  issues  of  the  labor  problem. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  most  important  inventions  affecting  the  iron  industry 
since  1840  were  the  "Bessemer"  and  "Open  Hearth"  processes 
for  manufacturing  steel,  and  it  was  not  until  1858  that  Mr. 
Bessemer  finally  succeeded  in  producing  cast  steel  from  cast 
iron.  The  first  Bessemer  steel  rails  made  in  this  country 
were  rolled  at  the  North  Chicago  rolling-mill  on  May  24, 
1865.  But  not  until  1867  was  there  any  quantity  made  to 
order.  From  2,550  net  tons  in  1867  the  production  rose  to 
the  highest  point  in  1882,  when  the  tremendous  total  of 
1,438,155  net  tons  was  reached.  The  new  processes  referred 
to  above  have  made  great  changes  in  the  manufacture  of  iron 
and  in  the  number  of  hands  employed  in  the  various  depart- 
ments. Many  improvements  have  also  been  made  in  the 
manufacture  of  rails,  by  which  a  large  amount  of  labor  has 
been  saved.  The  vast  displacement  of  manual  labor  caused 


HIGHER    INDUSTRIAL    CONDITIONS. 


309 


by  these  improvements  has  completely  changed  the  relations 
between  employers  and  employees ;  and  to  this  is  due,  more 
than  anything  else,  the  failure  of  strikes  in  the  large  Besse- 
mer works,  and,  as  we  find  in  most  of  the  Eastern  works,  the 
complete  subjugation  of  labor  to  the  will  of  the  employers. 
I  believe  that  the  inventive  genius  of  man  in  bringing  about 
those  vast  improvements,  is  the  unseen  hand  of  the  Almighty 
preparing  the  way  for  the  higher  industrial  conditions  await- 
ing us  in  the  near  future,  where  the  benefit  of  all  this  genius 
will  be  enjoyed  by  all  men 

It  may  well  be  asked,  What  is  the  difference  between  labor 
owned  by  the  capitalist,  in  the  form  of  labor-saving  machinery, 
and  the  laborer  himself,  as  a  slave  owned  by  his  master?  We 
need  some  system  whereby  the  great  improvements  brought 
about  by  man's  ingenuity  will  both  lighten  the  arduous  tasks 
imposed  upon  the. laborer  and  also  shorten  his  hours  of  labor. 
The  great  task  before  the  labor  organizations,  in  the  first 
place,  is  to  secure  fair  wages  to  the  laborer.  The  idea  em- 
bodied in  the  scale  of  prices  of  the  Amalgamated  Association, 
that  of  the  fixity  of  a  minimum  of  wages,  is,  to  my  mind,  the 
most  feasible.  It  is  no  use  wasting  time  talking  co-operation, 
— we  must  act  co-operation  ;  and  the  first  thing  to  co-operate 
in  is  the  fixing  of  a  minimum  of  wages  of  labor.  The  wages 
of  the  workman  should  never  go  below  the  point  that  would 
make  it  hard  for  a  frugal,  industrious  man  to  live  and  maintain 
a  family.  Common  day-labor,  for  instance,  should  never  be 
below  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day.  There  is  no  neces- 
sity that  I  should  go  on  enumerating  a  whole  list  of  occupa- 
tions ;  the.  principle  I  advocate  is  easily  understood.  But  the 
question  maybe  asked,  How  is  this  to  be  accomplished?  I 
answer,  by  co-operation  of  employers  and  workmen.  But 
I  must  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  this  co-operation  is 
possible  without  organization.  Not  at  all.  Such  an  assump- 
tion would  be  preposterous.  There  must  be  organization  of 
workmen,  and  there  must  be  organization  of  employers. 
Instead  of  being  constantly  in  conflict,  there  should  be, — 
there  must  be, — harmony  between  these  two  factors.  Em- 
ployers should  combine  to  pay  good  wages.  They  will 


3IO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

then  have  to  fix  the  price  of  their  products,  if  they  are  pro- 
ducers, or  whatever  their  position  in  the  social  and  industrial 
world  may  be,  in  proportion  to  the  wages  paid. 

There  is  no  reason  why  women  should  be  paid  such  low 
wages  as  thirty-five  and  fifty  cents  a  day  making  shirts.  Let 
them  be  paid,  at  the  lowest,  one  dollar  per  day,  though  to  do 
so  would  make  the  shirt  that  we  can  now  get  for  seventy-five 
cents  cost  us  twenty  five  cents  more.  Of  course,  in  this  large 
increase  in  price,  I  would  include  better  wages  to  the  labor 
employed  in  making  the  linen,  or  cotton  cloth,  or  whatever 
it  may  be,  out  of  which  the  shirt  is  made.  The  advocate  of 
free  competition,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  would  call 
this  an  infringement  of  personal  rights.  I  am  not  a  believer 
in  the  everlasting  cry  of  cheapness.  We  demand  good  wages 
first ;  and  if  the  business  men  who  attend  to  the  distribution 
of  the  products  of  labor  want  to  charge  exorbitant  rates,  we 
must  then  combine  to  attend  to  the  business  ourselves.  It  is 
well  for  workingmen  to  observe  that  some  of  the  richest 
men  are  to  be  found  among  the  merchants,  —  the  distributing 
class. 

Again,  there  must  be  some  means  adopted  of  finding  em- 
ployment for  all.  There  must  be  employment,  or  there  can- 
not be  any  earning  of  wages ;  and  when  there  is  no  receiving 
of  wages  there  is  no  money  to  spend  in  buying  food,  clothing, 
and  the  other  necessaries  of  life.  To  this  end  the  Amalga- 
mated Association  advocate  a  protective  tariff.  They  do  not 
believe  in  buying  abroad  such  products  as  should  be  pro- 
duced at  home.  Every  ton  of  iron  and  steel  brought  here 
from  abroad  means  that  amount  less  work  for  our  iron  and 
steel-workers  to  do,  and  the  loss  of  that  amount  of  wages.  It  is 
therefore  a  double  loss  —  a  loss  not  only  to  themselves,  but  to 
all  dependent  upon  them.  They  believe,  too,  that  they  must 
have  the  work  to  do,  or  they  cannot  be  in  a  position  to  com- 
mand good  wages,  or,  indeed,  any  wages  at  all.  It  is  but  fair 
to  state  that  the  iron  and  steel-workers  advocate  a  tariff  on 
all  products  of  foreign  labor  that  are  brought  here  in  com- 
petition with  those  of  home  labor,  even  to  prohibition,  if 
necessary,  believing  that  the  more  complete  is  the  control  of 


LABOR  MEASURES  ADVOCATED.  31 1 

the  market,  the  easier  it  is  to  regulate  wages ;  and  on  pre- 
cisely the  same  grounds  as  those  on  which  they  advocate 
tariff,  they  advocate  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
foreign  labor  under  contract,  and  the  regulation  even  of  for- 
eign immigration.  Though  prison-contract  labor,  or  the 
products  of  the  labor  of  the  convicts,  do  not  enter  into 
direct  competition  with  the  products  of  our  iron  and  steel 
mills,  still  the  workmen  are  strenuously  opposed  to  it.  They 
are  also  opposed  to  the  system  of  letting  work  out  on  con- 
tract, which  is  now  so  general.  A  contractor  is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  an  overseer,  or  boss,  and  for  his  services 
should  be  paid  reasonable  wages ;  but  he  should  never  be 
allowed  to  carry  on  his  business  at  a  profit  squeezed  out 
of  the  daily  wages  of  the  operative.  They  also  believe  in 
equal  pay  for  men  and  women,  and  for  white  and  black. 
The  measure  of  wages  must  be  in  proportion  to  the  work 
done  or  labor  performed,  and  not  whether  it  be  a  man  or  a 
woman  that  does  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  action  of  the  last  convention  in  decid- 
ing not  to  affiliate  with  the  "Federation  of  Trades,"  I  know 
the  iron  and  steel  workers  are  in  hearty  accord  with  all  the 
great  questions  of  the  day,  as  advocated  in  the  platform  of 
the  "Federation,"  and  the  declaration  of  principles  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  They  are  especially  in  favor  of  the  com- 
pulsory education  of  children,  and  forbidding  the  employ- 
ment of  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  the  reserva- 
tion of  the  land  for  actual  settlers.  The  only  essential  point 
of  difference  is  on  that  of  arbitration.  The  association  attach 
much  importance  to  the  question  of  temperance.  It  regards 
intemperance  as  a  prolific  source  from  which  spring  many  of 
the  evils  which  the  workingman  have  to  endure.  Great  care 
has  always  been  taken  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  mem- 
bers the  necessity  of  properly  husbanding  their  resources. 
It  is  not  only  necessary  that  the  workmen  should  receive  good 
wages,  but  also  necessary  that  they  judiciously  spend  them. 
In  brief,  the  sole  aim  of  the  association  is  the  social,  moral, 
mental,  and  financial  improvement  of  its  members. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE    RISE    OF    RAILROAD    ORGANIZATIONS. 

THE  ENGINEERS  FIRST  ORGANIZE  —  FIRST  CONVENTION,  1855 — THIS  AS- 
SOCIATION SHORT-LIVED  —  ORGANIZED  AGAIN  IN  1863  —  PURPOSES  OF 
THE  NEW  BROTHERHOOD  —  RAPID  GROWTH  OF  THE  ORDER  —  LIMIT- 
ING MEMBERSHIP  TO  ENGINEERS  —  ATTEMPTED  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE 
ORDER — PRESENT  NAME  ADOPTED  —  ORGANIZATION  IN  NEW  ENG- 
LAND—  OFFICIAL  JOURNAL  ESTABLISHED  —  CHIEF  WILSON'S  RESIGNA- 
TION DEMANDED  —  CHIEF  ARTHUR  ELECTED  —  STRIKES  OF  THE  BRO- 
THERHOOD—  COLOR-BLINDNESS  —  DISCUSSION  OF  THE  LABOR  PROB- 
LEM. THE  BROTHERHOOD  OF  LOCOMOTIVE  FIREMEN  —  ORGANIZED  IN 
AN  OLD  CAR-SHED — ANNUAL  CONVENTIONS  AND  RAPID  GROWTH  — 
ITS  BENEVOLENT  WORK  —  STRIKES  UNKNOWN  —  ITS  CHIEF  OFFICERS. 
BROTHERHOOD  OF  RAILROAD  BRAKEMEN  —  ORGANIZED,  '  1883  —  PHE- 
NOMENAL GROWTH  —  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  ORDER  —  IT  is  OPPOSED  TO 
STRIKES.  THE  SWITCHMEN'S  MUTUAL  AID  ASSOCIATION  —  ORGANIZED, 
1877.  ORDER  OF  RAILWAY  CONDUCTORS  —  ORGANIZED,  1868.  MASTER 
MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION. 

THE  idea  that  in  union  of  like  interests  there  is  strength 
comes  sooner  or  later  to  those  most  concerned  therein. 
Oftentimes  its  full  force  is  not  felt  until  some  pressure  from 
without  drives  it  home.  The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers  is  a  conspicuous  illustration  of  this  truth.  Almost 
as  soon  as  the  railroads  of  the  country  became  sufficiently 
numerous  and  centralized  to  make  it  practicable,  the  engi- 
neers began  to  move  towards  an  organization  for  mutual  aid 
and  assistance.  As  early  as  1854,  it  appears  that  the  engi- 
neers on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  joined  in  a  strike, 
on  account  of  some  difficulty  with  the  officers  of  the  com- 
pany, in  which  sixteen  of  them  lost  their  situations.  The 
rapid  extension  of  railroads,  the  consequent  great  demand  for 
engineers,  and  the  evils  resulting  from  the  employment  of 
inexperienced,  incompetent,  and  intemperate  men  for  this 
work  caused  the  older  and  more  thoughtful  engineers  on 

(3") 


THE    FIRST    CONVENTION.  313 

that  road  to  discuss  means  of  mutual  protection,  and  the  im- 
provement of  their  fellow-craftsmen. 

It  was  decided  to  call  a  convention  of  locomotive  engineers 
to  consider  the  subject  more  fully.  Accordingly,  a  circular 
was  sent  to  the  men  on  all  railroads  through  the  country, 
asking  them  to  send  delegates  to  a  convention  in  Baltimore, 
November  6,  1855.  About  70  delegates  responded  to  this 
call,  representing  14  States  and  55  railroads.  An  organiza- 
tion was  effected  under  the  name  of  the  "National  Protective 
Association  of  the  United  States,"  and  the  following  officers 
were  chosen  :  President,  Benjamin  Hoxies,  of  the  Delaware 
and  Eastern  Division  of  the  New  York  &  Erie ;  Vice-Presi- 
dent, J.  R.  Smith,  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  ;  Secretary,  Wil- 
liam D.  Robinson,  of  the  New  York  Central ;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Christian  Smith,  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio;  Treas- 
urer, Henry  Brown,  of  the  Hartford,  Springfield,  &  New 
Haven.  A  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted,  and  reso- 
lutions setting  forth  the  wants,  aims,  and  objects  of  the  asso- 
ciation were  passed.  The  convention  adjourned  to  Columbus, 
Ohio,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October,  1856.  It  had  failed, 
however,  to  adopt  certain  measures  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cessful continuance  of  such  organizations;  and,  after  meeting 
at  Columbus,  pursuant  to  adjournment,  when  no  important 
business  appears  to  have  been  transacted,  it  never  again 
assembled.  Some  subordinate  associations  were  formed 
during  the  first  year,  and  maintained  their  organization  in  a 
more  or  less  demoralized  condition  for  a  few  years.  Some 
may  even  have  been  in  existence  in  1863,  when  the  present 
Brotherhood  was  founded. 

The  engineers  were  now  rapidly  becoming  more  and  more 
numerous  ;  and  the  necessity  for  combination  for  mutual  pro- 
tection against  the  growing  disposition  of  railroad  officials  to 
encroach  on  the  compensation  of  the  engineers,  and  many 
other  rights  and  privileges  they  considered  themselves  entitled 
to,  became  correspondingly  apparent.  At  this  time,  little 
thought  was  given  towards  an  association  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  character  of  those  in  the  service.  The  need  for 
mutual  protection  was  more  keenly  felt  in  the  West  than  in 


314  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  East.  The  course  of  the  officials  of  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral, in  the  fall  of  1862  and  the  following  winter,  aroused  much 
indignation  among  the  engineers,  caused  a  general  discussion 
of  the  situation,  and  led  the  more  zealous  to  earnest  efforts  for 
organization.  W.  D.  Robinson,  of  Marshall,  and  George  Q^. 
Adams,  of  Detroit,  were  especially  prominent  in  this  work. 
In  the  meantime  an  association  of  employees  of  the  Michigan 
Southern  had  been  started  at  Adrian,  and  the  men  on  the 
Central  were  invited  to  join.  Messrs.  George  Q^  Adams, 
Samuel  Keith,  and  M.  Higgins,  representing  the  engineers 
on  the  Central  and  the  Detroit  &  Milwaukee,  went  to  Adrian 
and  joined  the  organization  to  learn  its  purposes.  They 
found  it  was  designed  to  include  all  railroad  employees  in  the 
mechanical  departments,  and  reported  unfavorably  on  the 
movement,  believing  the  best  interests  of  the  engineers  could 
be  served  by  an  association  which  would  include  only  engi- 
neers and  firemen. 

Soon  after  this,  on  a  Sunday  early  in  the  following  April, 
several  engineers  met  at  the  engine-house  in  Marshall,  as 
engine-men  were  in  the  habit  of  doing.  Among  them  were 
Messrs.  Robinson  and  Adams.  Conversation  naturally  turned 
on  their  grievances,  and  some  plan  to  remedy  them.  While 
they  were  talking  they  discovered  the  division  master-me- 
chanic of  the  road  watching  them  ;  and  so,  on  the  invitation 
of  Mr.  Robinson,  they  withdrew  to  his  house,  where  they 
might  be  more  secure  in  the  expression  of  their  opinions. 
The  situation  on  the  Central  was  only  a  type  of  that  through 
the  country  generally.  The  railroad  officials  were  constantly 
encroaching  on  the  compensation  and  accustomed  privileges 
of  the  employees,  and  the  latter  were  becoming  more  and 
more  discontented  in  consequence.  This  gathering  of  the 
engineers  was  the  first  formal  expression  of  discontent.  They 
met  as  friends  to  talk  over  their  grievances  ;  but  before  they 
separated,  they  planted  the  germ  of  a  brotherhood  that  soon 
grew  and  extended  until  its  branches  had  reached  the  fur- 
thermost parts  of  the  country.  It  was  here  decided  to  open 
correspondence  with  engineers  on  different  roads  running 
into  Detroit,  looking  toward  the  accomplishment  of  definite 


BROTHERHOOD    OF    THE    FOOT-BOARD.  315 

terms  of  co-operation.  An  agreement  was  also  drawn  up 
that,  if  any  one  should  be  discharged  from  the  service  of  the 
company  for  any  action  in  the  contemplated  movement,  the 
rest  of  the  engineers  would  notify  the  company  that,  unless 
he  was  reinstated,  they  would  quit  work  in  a  body.  Copies 
of  this  agreement  were  circulated  among  the  engineers  on 
the  road,  and  was  signed  by  all  but  four.  This  correspon- 
dence resulted  in  calling  a  convention  in  Detroit,  May  5, 
1863.  Engineers  on  only  the  following  roads  were  asked 
to  attend  this  first  convention  :  Michigan  Central,  Michigan 
Southern  &  Northern  Indiana,  Detroit  &  Milwaukee,  Grand 
Trunk  on  the  American  side,  and  the  Detroit  branch  of  the 
Michigan  Southern.  A  goodly  representation  of  the  engi- 
neers on  these  roads  appeared  at  the  appointed  place.  The 
Michigan  Southern  and  Northern  Indiana  were  represented 
by  F.  Avery,  Frank  Wheeler  and  John  Kenned v  ;  the  De- 
troit branch  of  that  road,  by  T.  Wartsmouth  and  E.  Nichols ; 
the  Detroit  &  Milwaukee,  by  M.  Higgins ;  the  Grand  Trunk, 
by  B.  Northrup ;  the  East  Division  of  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral, by  George  Q^.  Adams  ;  the  Middle  Division  of  the  same 
road,  by  W.  D.  Robinson.  The  West  Division  of  this  road  was 
not  represented.  These  men,  with  the  advice  and  counsel  of 
several  engineers  on  these  roads,  who  were  not  considered 
delegates,  entered  on  their  duties  with  praiseworthy  zeal.  A 
constitution  and  by-laws,  embodying  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  Brotherhood  as  it  exists  to-day,  were  adopted,  as 
was  a  form  of  obligation  as  a  bond  of  union.  On  the  8th  of 
May,  1863,  twelve  engineers,  including  the  delegates,  joined 
hands  in  a  circle,  repeated  the  obligation,  which  was  read 
by  George  Q^  Adams,  thus  pledging  themselves  to  support 
the  constitution  and  by-laws  then  adopted.  Officers  were  at 
once  selected,  and  Division  No.  i,  Brotherhood  of  the  Foot- 

• 

board,  was  fully  organized,  and  stood  forth  as  the  pioneer  in 
the  great  work  of  regeneration  and  elevation  of  the  locomo- 
tive engineers  on  this  continent,  eager  to  extend  the  hand  of 
fellowship  to  all  worthy  members  of  the  craft  who  had  any 
faith  in  their  rights  as  a  class,  and  a  belief  that  in  organized 
action  alone  rested  a  hope  of  their  vindication.  In  a  general 


316  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

way,  it  may  be  said  that  the  idea  most  prominent  in  the  con- 
stitution, and  which  is  repeated  with  emphasis  in  every  an- 
nual address  of  the  Grand  Chief  Engineer,  is  that  members 
of  the  Brotherhood  shall  aim  to  reach  a  high  standard  of 
ability  as  engineers  and  of  character  as  men,  well  fitted  to 
the  important  and  responsible  nature  of  their  occupation, 
thus  entitling  them  to  liberal  compensation,  which  should  be 
insisted  upon  by  all  legitimate  means.  Argument,  the  true 
worth  of  able  and  competent  men,  and  the  highest  and  best 
interests  of  the  companies  themselves,  rather  than  strikes, 
were  at  first,  always  have  been,  and  are  now,  the  means  on 
which  the  Brotherhood  has  relied  to  maintain  the  justice  of 
its  requests  at  the  hands  of  the  railroad  companies. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  this  initial  meeting, 
the  organization  of  other  divisions  in  the  West  and  North- 
west was  rapidly  prosecuted,  and  sub-divisions  had  been 
formed  before  the  leaders  of  the  movement  could  pause  to 
organize  a  Grand  Division.  This  was  done  at  Detroit,  on 
the  i  yth  of  August,  1873,  and  the  component  parts  of  the 
Grand  Division  then  established  their  location  and  date  of 
organization  were  as  follows:  Division  No.  2,  at  Marshall, 
Mich.,  June  4  ;  Division  No.  3,  at  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  June 
16;  Division  No.  4,  at  Adrian,  Mich.,  about  June  16 ;  Divi- 
sion No.  5,  at  Norwalk,  O.,  July  5;  Division  No.  6,  at 
Chicago;  Division  No.  7,  at  Lafayette,  Ind.;  Division  No. 
8,  at  Crestline,  O.  ;  Division  No.  9,  at  Laporte,  Ind.,  and 
Division  No.  10,  at  Chicago,  followed  in  close  succession. 
The  first  meeting  of  the  Grand  Division  was  held  in  the 
room  of  Division  No.  i,  23  Merrill's  Block,  corner  of  Jef- 
ferson and  Woodward  avenues,  the  same  room  occupied  by 
that  division  to-day,  and  which  they  have  held  continuously. 
All  ten  divisions  were  represented  at  this  convention,  when 
the  constitution  and  by-laws  were  somewhat  modified  and  im- 
proved. The  Grand  National  Division  was  here  organized. 
William  D.  Robinson,  who  has  been  called  the  Father  of  the 
Brotherhood,  was  chosen  Grand  Chief  Engineer ;  Charles 
Steele,  of  Division  No.  5,  First  Grand  Engineer;  George  Q^ 
Adams,  of  Division  No.  i,  Second  Grand  Engineer;  O.  T. 


THE    FIRST    CONFLICT.  317 

Johnson,  of  Division  No.  7,  First  Grand  Assistant  Engineer; 
Frank  Wheeler,  of  Division  No.  4,  Second  Grand  Assistant 
Engineer,  and  E.  C.  Redfield,  of  Division  No.  6,  Third 
Grand  Assistant  Engineer.  This  convention  adjourned  to 
meet  in  Indianapolis,  August  17,  1864. 

The  burden  of  the  work  fell  on  the  Grand  Chief,  who  was 
regularly  employed  on  the  middle  division  of  tha  Michigan 
Central.  His  increasing  work  in  this  office  compelled  him 
to  obtain  leave  of  absence  from  his  post,  and  his  prominent 
connection  with  the  Brotherhood  finally  culminated  in  his 
discharge  from  the  road,  about  the  middle  of  November. 
Finding  it  difficult  to  obtain  employment  on  other  roads, 
for  similar  reasons,  he  resigned  his  office  of  Grand  Chief, 
November  17,  1863  ;  but  his  resignation  was  not  accepted.  It 
was  soon  decided  that  he  should  devote  his  whole  time  to  the 
interests  of  the  Order.  The  treasury  had  become  empty,  and 
printed  copies  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws  were  nearly 
exhausted.  These  difficulties  were  finally  overcome,  and  on 
December  14,  1863,  he  started  on  his  mission.  In  just  one 
month  he  visited  fourteen  divisions,  organized  divisions 
in  Milwaukee,  Zanesville,  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Covington, 
Ky.,  and  Columbus,  and  granted  charters  for  Nashville  and 
East  St.  Louis. 

Early  in  1864  Division  No.  12,  at  Fort  Wayne,  became  in- 
volved in  a  dispute  with  the  officers  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort 
Wayne  &  Chicago  Railroad.  Chief  Robinson  visited  them, 
and  left  them  apparently  in  good  condition.  They  soon 
became  demoralized,  however,  and  destroyed  their  charter. 
The  division  was  soon  reorganized.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  these  engineers  were  worsted  in  this  the  first  conflict  of 
the  Order.  It  had  now  become  evident  that  changes  must 
be  made  in  the  constitution,  and  a  special  convention  was 
called  at  Detroit,  February  23,  for  that  purpose,  when  this 
work  was  satisfactorily  accomplished.  The  original  con- 
stitution allowed  any  engineer  of  good  moral  character  to 
become  a  member,  and  some  divisions  sought  to  gain  in  num- 
bers by  admitting  any  one  who  could  run  an  engine,  and 
some  firemen  and  machinists  were  admitted ;  but  at  this  spe- 


318  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT 

cial  session  an  amendment  was  adopted  excluding  firemen 
and  machinists. 

In  consequence  of  grievances  at  the  hands  of  the  Chicago 
&  Galena  Union  Railroad,  a  special  convention,  or  union 
meeting,  was  held  in  Chicago,  March  10,  1864.  Evidence 
was  produced  showing  positively  that  a  conspiracy  on  the 
part  of  certain  superintendents  and  master-mechanics  to  de- 
stroy the  Brotherhood  in  detail,  and  that  Division  No.  6,  at 
Chicago,  had  been  selected  as  the  first  victim.  At  this  meet- 
ing resolutions  of  the  strongest  and  most  able  character  were 
passed,  amounting  to  the  Brotherhood  at  large  as  a  declara- 
tion of  rights  and  the  vindication  of  the  legitimacy  of  com- 
bination for  protection,  or  other  purposes,  so  long  as  such 
combination  possessed  no  unlawful  or  treasonable  features. 
This  movement  was  premature,  the  organization  being  yet 
too  imperfect,  and  the  minds  of  the  men  not  prepared  to  act 
in  concert  in  any  movement  of  such  magnitude.  The  super- 
intendents and  master-mechanics  also  denied  being  concerned 
in  an  attack  on  the  Brotherhood,  although  there  was  sufficient 
proof  that  the  above  road  was  joined  with  others  in  some  kind 
of  a  movement  in  which  they  gave  it  valuable  assistance  at 
this  time.  After  this  convention  the  Grand  Chief  started 
East,  organizing  divisions  at  Altoona,  Penn.,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Port  Jervis  ;  at  this  last  place  completing  the 
organization  of  the  engineers  on  the  Erie  Railroad.  He  was 
then  called  West,  and  was  never  able  to  visit  the  East  as  an 
organizer. 

During  the  remainder  of  this  year,  nothing  of  special  con- 
sequence to  the  Brotherhood  transpired,  except  its  rapid 
growth,  by  which  it  reached  a  total  of  fifty-four  divisions, 
scattered  over  the  country  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  to 
Albany  and  West  Lebanon,  N.  H.,  and  as  far  south  as 
Nashville.  The  finances  of  the  Grand  Division  were  now 
in  a  flourishing  condition. 

At  the  Second  Annual  Convention,  held  in  Indianapolis, 
August  17,  1864,  all  the  grand  officers  were  present.  There 
were  thirty-eight  of  the  fifty-four  divisions  represented.  Chief 
Robinson  reported  at  length  on  the  work  done  in  the  first 


THE    NAME    AND    TITLE    ADOPTED.  319 

year,  and  suggested  many  needed  changes  in  constitution 
and  by-laws,  which  were  made.  The  name  and  title  was 
changed  to  the  Grand  International  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Engineers.  The  form  of  initiation  was  changed,  and 
made  more  impressive.  The  office  of  Guide  in  sub-divisions 
was  created.  At  this  convention  the  doctrine  or  improve- 
ment in  ability  and  character  of  the  members  was  made  spe- 
cially prominent.  Charles  Wilson,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  was 
chosen  Grand  Chief,  —  an  office  he  held  for  over  ten  years. 
Robert  Laughlin,  of  Hornellsville,  N.  Y.,  was  chosen  First 
Grand  Assistant  Engineer,  and  that  office  was  made  the  only 
salaried  one  of  the  Brotherhood,  the  compensation  being  fixed 
at  $125  per  month.  It  was  voted  to  adopt  the  Trades  Review, 
of  Philadelphia,  as  the  official  organ  of  the  Brotherhood. 

It  happened  that  a  lot  of  Confederate  prisoners  were  con- 
fined near  Indianapolis  at  this  time,  and  the  appearance  of 
the  engineers  there  caused  many  to  think  they  were  con- 
nected with  a  reported  scheme  for  the  release  of  these  pris- 
oners. The  delegates  were  consequently  followed  to  and  from 
their  hall  by  a  file  of  United  States  soldiers,  who  also  guarded 
the  hall  while  they  were  in  session.  As  yet  the  order  had  no 
permanent  headquarters.  The  new  Grand  Chief  soon  de- 
cided that,  in  consequence  of  the  hostility  among  railroad 
officials  to  the  Brotherhood,  to  remain  at  home  and  do  the 
work  of  organizing  as  best  he  could  by  correspondence.  This 
policy  proved  a  wise  one.  Doubting  and  suspicious  railroad 
officials  were  hardly  able  to  understand  the  quietude,  while 
the  Brotherhood  used  every  effort  to  win  their  confidence  on 
the  merits  of  their  order.  As  yet  there  was  only  one  division 
in  New  England,  No.  13,  at  West  Lebanon,  N.  H.,  which 
was  organized  by  engineers  on  the  Northern  Railroad,  De- 
cember 28,  1863.  H.  A.  Cheney  was  a  leading  spirit  in 
its  organization,  'the  preliminary  meetings  being  held  at  his 
house,  while  he  went  to  Detroit  to  obtain  the  work  and 
authority  to  organize.  Soon  after  the  Indianapolis  Conven- 
tion, the  engineers  of  the  East  began  to  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  associating  themselves  with  this  movement,  and  those 
running  out  of  Boston  were  the  first  to  fall  into  line. 


32O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

About  December  i,  1864,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Olympic  Theatre  building,  corner  of  Washington  and  How- 
ard streets,  to  consider  the  question  of  organizing  a  division. 
Maynard  Banister,  Samuel  Hobart  and  J.  M.  Alger,  of  the 
Boston  &  Worcester  road;  James  H.  Prince  and  L.  Cole,  of 
the  Boston  &  Providence,  and  John  T.  Otis,  of  the  South 
Shore,  were  present.  It  was  decided  to  organize,  but  ad- 
journment for  one  week  was  had  without  definite  action.  In 
the  following  week,  the  engineers  of  all  roads  running  out  of 
Boston  were  interviewed  and  invited  to  participate  in  the 
movement.  The  next  meeting  was  held  in  Hospitaller  Hall, 
on  Washington  street.  After  full  discussion,  John  T.  Otis 
was  appointed  a  delegate  to  secure  the  work  and  a  charter, 
with  authority  to  organize.  He  went  to  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
and  joined  Division  No.  18  there,  December  17,  1864.  He 
then  secured  a  charter  from  the  Grand  Chief,  and  authority  to 
organize.  At  the  following  meeting,  Friday  evening,  Decem- 
ber 30,  at  Hospitaller  Hall,  five  members  were  initiated,  as 
follows:  Maynard  Banister,  S.  B.  Hobart,  J.  H.  Prince, 
L.  Cole,  and  W.  E.  White.  One  week  later  they  initiated 
fourteen  more.  Permanent  officers  were  chosen,  as  fol- 
lows:  John  T.  Otis,  Chief  Engineer;  S.  A.  Bragg,  First 
Assistant  Engineer ;  M.  A.  Banister,  Second  Assistant  En- 
gineer. Division  63  was  organized  at  Springfield,  Mass., 
March  3,  1865,  and  Division  57  was  organized  at  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  April  27,  1865. 

These  first  few  months,  closing  with  the  organization  of  the 
divisions  in  Boston,  Springfield,  and  Providence,  practically 
cover  what  may  be  termed  the  formative  period  of  the  Bro- 
therhood. Its  growth  since  then  has  been  steady,  but  not 
uniform.  It  now  has  a  membership  of  20,000  in  round  num- 
bers, divided  among  319  divisions.  Various  causes,  from  time 
to  time,  tended  to  delay  its  development.  The  chief  officers, 
however,  in  the  face  of  all  difficulties  always  insisted  upon 
using  every  possible  argument  before  authorizing  a  strike, 
and  continually  urged  upon  the  members  to  attain  so  high  a 
degree  of  excellence  as  to  command  the  highest  wages  with- 
out objection  by  the  companies.  The  annual  conventions 


TRADES-UNION    LEADERS. 


BENEFIT    FUNDS    ESTABLISHED.  321 

were  held  in  prominent  cities  through  the  country,  and  were 
frequently  attended  by  prominent  city  and  State  officials. 
These  conventions  were  generally  held  in  October.  At  the 
Convention  of  1866,  the  Locomotive  Engineers'  Journal  was 
established,  which  has  since  reached  a  very  general  circula- 
tion through  the  Brotherhood.  Its  pages  each  month  were 
filled  with  topics  of  general  interest  to  the  members,  —  special 
correspondence  from  brothers,  communications  from  various 
officers  and  editorial  comments  on  current  topics  of  particular 
interest  to  engineers.  It  has  been  a  great  power  in  building 
up  the  Brotherhood.  This  convention  also  established  the 
Widows',  Orphans',  and  Disabled  Members'  Fund,  of  which 
P.  M.  Arthur,  Anson  Gustin,  and  J.  H.  Prince  were  the  first 
trustees.  This  fund  was  subsequently,  after  it  reached  the 
sum  of  $14,639.48,  transferred  to  the  General  Charity 
Fund.  On  the  3d  of  December,  1867,  the  Locomotive  Engi- 
neers' Mutual  Life  Insurance  Association  was  established, 
and  it  has  proven  a  source  of  great  benefit  to  the  members. 

In  1868,  trouble  arose  between  the  engineers  at  St.  Louis 
and  the  roads,  when  the  right  of  the  Brotherhood  to  strike  on 
all  roads  because  of  trouble  on  one  came  up.  Chief  Wilson 
claimed  that  as  the  companies  combined  to  help  each  other, 
so  their  employees  had  the  same  right.  His  own  plan,  how- 
ever, was  to  have  each  road  settle  its  own  difficulties  inde- 
pendently. In  1870,  it  was  voted  to  establish  headquarters 
in  Cleveland  for  the  following  ten  years,  and  there  they  have 
remained  ever  since.  An  order  of  burial-service  was  also 
adopted  at  this  convention.  In  1871,  it  was  determined  to 
procure  an  international  act  of  incorporation,  if  possible;  if 
not,  then  a  charter  from  the  United  States,  so  that  the  Grand 
International  Division  might  be  recognized  as  a  legal  body. 
It  was  proposed  to  incorporate  the  chief  officers  and  one  dele- 
gate from  each  State.  An  act  of  incorporation  was  drawn  up, 
but  it  died  in  Congress.  Division  33  was  incorporated  in  Ten- 
nessee in  1870,  but  as  the  division  died  a  natural  death  in 
1877  the  brotherhood  is  not  now  incorporated  in  any  State. 
In  1872,  the  convention  voted  to  expel  all  members  engaging 
in  strikes  without  the  direction  of  their  divisions.  The  grand 


322  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

officers  were  also  unanimously  instructed  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  induce  the  companies  to  discontinue  Sunday 
trains. 

A  special  convention  was  held  at  Cleveland,  February  25, 
1874,  when  the  resignation  of  Chief  Wilson  was  asked  for  and 
received.  His  successor  was  P.  M.  Arthur,  who  had  been 
prominent  in  the  Brotherhood  almost  from  its  inception,  and 
who  has  held  that  place  ever  since.  The  cause  for  this  conven- 
tion was  as  follows  :  In  November,  1873,  the  engineers  learned 
that  the  railroad  officials  throughout  the  country  had  com- 
bined to  reduce  their  wages,  on  account  of  alleged  decrease 
of  business  and  earnings.  The  engineers  did  not  believe  the 
reasons  given  were  the  true  ones,  and  successfully  resisted  the 
attempted  reduction  on  one  principal  road,  and  checked  it  on 
many  others  by  timely  remonstrances.  An  attempted  set- 
tlement with  the  Pennsylvania  road  and  leased  lines  failed. 
Chief  Arthur  claims  the  road  did  wrong  in  posting  a  ten  per 
cent,  reduction  while  it  still  had  a  written  agreement  with  the 
engineers  that  they  should  receive  a  stipulated  sum  for  certain 
services.  The  reduction  was  made  on  a  day's  notice.  The 
engineers  thought  such  action  arbitrary  and  unjust.  They 
claimed  they  should  have  been  consulted,  and  that  they  would 
cheerfully  have  submitted  to  a  reduction,  had  a  good  reason 
therefor  been  shown.  Failing  to  secure  a  restoration  of 
wages,  they  struck  at  an  appointed  hour,  first  having  given 
due  warning  of  their  intention.  For  this  Chief  Wilson  de- 
nounced them  through  the  public  press,  although  he  did  not 
condemn  the  officials  of  the  road.  His  action  caused  an  imme- 
diate demand  for  his  resignation,  which  was  given,  as  stated 
above. 

Many  chapters  could  be  written  simply  upon  the  strikes  in 
which  the  Brotherhood  has  been  engaged,  although  they  have 
been  comparatively  few.  But  they  vitally  concerned  the  gen- 
eral public,  and  were  followed  with  the  closest  interest  while 
they  lasted.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  they  were  all,  or 
nearly  all,  caused  by  attempted  reduction  of  wages  and 
attempts  to  break  up  the  organization.  The  Brotherhood, 
as  its  records  abundantly  show,  first  exhausted  all  pacific 


COLOR-BLINDNESS.  323 

means,  in  accordance  with  their  principles,  and  then  stopped 
the  trains  at  such  hours  as  to  cause  as  little  inconvenience 
as  practicable  to  the  travelling  and  business  public.  The  Bro- 
therhood was  generally  successful  in  securing  a  compliance 
with  their  requests  without  much  delay.  Sometimes  the  strug- 
gle was  more  protracted,  the  officials  refusing  at  first  to  even 
recognize  the  Brotherhood,  or  Chief  Arthur  as  its  representa- 
tive. But  they  were  eventually  compelled  so  to  do.  In  a  few 
instances  the  strikes  were  unsuccessful,  owing  usually  to 
the  assistance  rendered  by  other  companies.  The  companies 
always  paid  much  more,  in  the  long  run,  to  fight  the  Brother- 
hood than  it  would  have  cost  to  have  acceded  to  its  requests. 
In  commenting  on  the  result  of  one  strike,  which  cost  the 
company  at  least  half  a  million  dollars,  Chief  Arthur  said  : — 

It  is  not  the  money  that  has  been  paid  the  engineers  that  has  bankrupted 
so  many  railroads.  It  is  the  peculation,  fraud,  and  mismanagement  of  those 
high  in  authority.  If  all  the  legitimate  earnings  of  the  railroad  companies 
found  its  way  into  their  treasury,  they  could  afford  to  pay  their  employees 
liberal  wages  and  declare  a  fair  dividend  to  their  stockholders. 

About  1879, tne  question  of  color-blindness  became  promi- 
nent, and  had  reached  such  importance  by  the  time  of  the 
annual  convention  in  1881,  that  Chief  Arthur  gave  consider- 
able space  to  it  in  his  annual  address.  He  referred  to  the 
discharge  of  experienced  engineers,  especially  in  Massachu- 
setts, for  this  cause.  He  charged  the  examining  board  of 
that  State  with  seeking  more  to  enrich  themselves  than  to 
promote  the  safety  of  the  travelling  public,  and  urged  that 
common  sense  would  show  that  self-interest  would  cause  the 
companies  to  employ  only  men  who  would  not  cause  them 
serious  loss  by  mistaking  the  color  of  signals.  He  urged  the 
Brotherhood  to  use  its  influence  to  prevent  similar  legislation 
in  other  States  to  that  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  on 
this  subject. 

In  the  tenth  annual  address  of  Chief  Arthur,  he  dwelt  at 
length  upon  the  labor  problem,  and  some  of  his  most  striking 
ideas  are  quoted,  as  follows  :  — 

Labor  needs  unity  in  its  ranks,  honesty  and  intelligence  in  its  leaders,  and 
wisdom  in  its  councils.  *  *  *  *  Employers  should  rise  above  their  nar- 


324  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

rowness,  and  endeavor  to  work,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  interest  of  their 
workmen,  and  create  more  kindly  relations.  If  this  were  done,  there  would 
be  fewer  strikes,  and  capital  would  be  benefited  in  a  corresponding  degree. 
*  *  *  *  The  great  mistake  some  employers  make  is  in  refusing  to  recog- 
nize the  committees  sent  to  them  by  their  workmen  to  present  their  grievances. 
It  was  the  refusal  to  receive  our  committees  that  led  to  all  the  trouble  we  have 
had  as  an  organization.  The  best  method  to  settle  the  difficulties  that  arise 
between  employer  and  employee  is  for  the  representatives  of  both  sides  to 
come  together  and  talk  them  over  in  a  friendly  spirit,  each  one  making  con- 
cessions whenever  the  nature  of  the  case  would  seem  to  warrant  it.  *  *  *  * 
There  is  no  occasion  for  this  constant  warfare  between  capital  and  labor ;  both 
have  rights  that  each  other  are  bound  to  respect ;  their  interests  are  identical ; 
the  one  is  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  other;  and  the  sooner  mer* 
realize  that  fact  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  whole  country. 

THE  BROTHERHOOD  OF  LOCOMOTIVE  FIREMEN. 

This  brotherhood  was  founded  December  i,  1873,  by  nine 
locomotive  firemen.  They  met  in  an  old  car-shed  at  Port 
Jervis,  N.  Y.,  on  that  day,  and  organized  Deer  Park  Lodge, 
No.  i ,  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen.  The 
purposes  of  the  Order,  as  stated  in  the  preamble  to  its  consti- 
tution, are  for  effecting  a  unity  of  the  locomotive  firemen  of 
North  America,  and  elevating  them  to  a  higher  social,  moral, 
and  intellectual  standard ;  for  the  promotion  of  their  general 
welfare  and  the  protection  of  their  families,  and  for  bringing 
into  perfect  harmony  the  firemen  arid  their  employers,  since 
their  interests  are  identical,  and  for  aiding  the  families  of  its 
members. 

The  first  Grand  Master  chosen  was  J.  A.  Leach,  and  he 
held  that  office  until  September,  1876.  The  first  Grand 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  was  G.  S.  Murray.  So  zealously 
did  the  founders  of  the  Brotherhood  labor,  that  twelve  subor- 
dinate lodges  were  the  fruit  of  the  first  year's  work.  These 
lodges  sent  two  delegates  each  to  the  first  annual  conven- 
tion, at  Hornellsville,  N.  Y.,  December  15,  1874.  At  this 
convention,  H..  W.  Plummer  was  chosen  Vice-Grand  Master, 
the  first  to  hold  that  place.  In  December,  1875,  tne  Second 
Annual  Convention  was  held  in  Indianapolis,  and  it  was  then 
found  that  the  Order  had  grown  to  31  lodges,  and  over  600 
members.  At  this  convention  it  was  voted  to  issue  the  Fire- 
man's Magazine,  in  the  interests  of  the  Brotherhood ;  and  it 


REMARKABLE    GROWTH. 


325 


has  now  become  one  of  the  finest  journals  of  its  class,  with 
a  very  large  circulation.  The  Annual  Convention,  in  St. 
Louis,  in  September,  1876,  showed  53  lodges  and  over 
1500  members.  The  Convention  of  1877,  m  Indianapolis, 
showed  78  lodges  and  3,500  members. 

In  1877  came  the  great  railroad  troubles  of  the  country ; 
and  the  Brotherhood,  whose  growth  naturally  depends  upon 
a  healthy  state  of  railroad  interests,  felt  a  check  in  its  growth, 
which  continued  even  through  1880.  But  by  the  time  of  the 
Annual  Convention  of  the  latter  year,  which  was  held  in  Chi- 
cago, in  September,  it  was  evident  that  the  Order  was  again 
advancing,  for  it  reported  98  lodges  and  a  membership  of 
4,500.  The  Convention  of  1882,  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
showed  124  lodges  and  5,000  members,  which  were  in- 
creased during  the  next  year  to  178  lodges  and  7,337  mem- 
bers. This  was  the  remarkable  growth  of  only  ten  years, 
during  three  of  which  the  Order  was  comparatively  at  a  stand- 
still. The  Eleventh  Convention  was  held  in  Toronto,  Can., 
September  23,  1884,  and  by  this  time  the  lodges  numbered 
240,  and  the  membership  over  12,000.  At  the  last  Annual 
Convention,  which  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  September  21, 
1885,  the  grand  total  of  290  lodges  and  15,000  members  had 
been  reached.  On  January  9,  1886,  at  Saginaw  City,  Mich., 
was  organized  Harbor  City  Lodge,  making  a  round  300 
lodges  and  a  membership  of  over  16,000.  Thus  is  sketched 
the  foundation  and  growth  of  one  of  the  most  successful  fra- 
ternal organizations  among  railroad  men. 

This  order  is  truly  a  "  brotherhood  "  in  all  that  the  name 
implies.  Its  last  report  shows  that  it  has  paid  out  of  its  bene- 
ficiary fund  $271,764,  and  to  members  who  have  been  totally 
disabled  $44,000  more,  making  a  grand  total  of  $315,764. 
This  has  gone  to  those  whose  extra  hazardous  calling  does 
not  allow  them  the  advantages  of  ordinary  life  and  accident 
insurance ;  and  yet  these  premiums  have  not  cost  the  mem- 
bers over  twelve  dollars  each  per  annum. 

The  Order  is  wholly  fraternal  and  benevolent.  It  has  an 
insurance  system,  under  which  it  pays  $1,500  to  the  family  of 
a  deceased  member.  In  this  way  it  has  already  paid  out  over 


326  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

$600,000.  Its  motto  is,  "Benevolence,  Sobriety,  and  Indus- 
try." As  an  organization  it  has  never  seen  a  strike,  having 
always  been  able  to  adjust  its  grievances  by  arbitration,  which 
is  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Order.  Although 
its  membership  is  more  largely  in  the  North,  it  has  represen- 
tatives in  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union,  and  in 
Mexico  and  every  section  of  Canada. 

The  chief  officers  of  the  Brotherhood,  from  its  founding, 
have  been  as  follows  :  Grand  Masters — J.  A.  Leach,  W.  R. 
Worth,  F.  B.  Alley,  W.  T.  Goundie,  F.  W.  Arnold,  Charles 
Pope,  and  Frank  P.  Sargent;  Vice-Grand  Masters  —  H.  W. 
Plummer,  H.  H.  Clapp,  John  Broderick,  W.  T.  Goundie, 
J.  M.  Dodge,  J.  E.  Briggs,  W.  E.  Burns,  F.  P.  Sargent,  and 
J.  J.  Hannahan ;  Grand  Secretary  and  Treasurers  —  G.  S. 
Murray,  W.  N.  Sayre,  Eugene  V.  Debs ;  Grand  Organizer 
and  Instructors — S.  M.  Stevens  and  J.  J.  Hannahan;  Grand 
Trustees  —  A.  H.  Tucker,  W.  F.  Hynes,  and  C.  A.  Cripps. 
At  the  Toronto  Convention,  in  1884,  E.  B.  Mayo,  W.  E. 
Burns,  S.  Vaughan,  F.  W.  Dyer,  and  C.  A.  Wilson  were 
chosen  as  Grand  Trustees  to  serve  for  two  years,  Mr.  Mayo 
being  chairman  and  Mr.  Burns  secretary.  Mr.  Mayo  has^ 
however,  been  succeeded  as  chairman  by  Mr.  H.  Walton,  of 
Philadelphia.  W.  N.  Sayre  was  first  editor  of  the  Fireman's 
Magazine,  which  is  now  most  ably  conducted  by  E.  V.  Debs, 
Grand  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  assisted  by  W.  F.  Hynes 
as  associate  editor. 

BROTHERHOOD    OF    RAILROAD    BRAKEMEN. 

This  brotherhood  is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  organiza- 
tions of  railroad  men.  It  was  organized  at  Oneonta,  N.  Y., 
September  23,  1883,  when  nineteen  brakemen  employed  on 
the  Albany  &  Susquehanna  Railroad  assembled,  and,  with 
much  misgiving  and  fear  of  its  success,  sent  ouf  a  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws.  But  the  growth  of  the  Brotherhood  has 
been  remarkable.  At  its  First  Annual  Convention,  held  at 
Oneonta,  October  20,  1884,  there  were  37  lodges  reported, 
with  a  membership  of  less  than  2,000.  The  Second  Annual 
Convention  met  at  Burlington,  la.,  October  19,  1885,  when 


RAILROAD    BRAKEMEN.  327 

161  lodges  were  reported,  with  a  membership  of  nearly 
7,000.  It  now  numbers  over  230  lodges  and  about  12,000 
members,  while  it  is  confidently  expected  that  at  the  Third 
Annual  Convention,  which  will  be  held  in  San  Antonio, 
Texas,  in  October,  1886,  fully  250  lodges  will  be  repre- 
sented, and  a  corresponding  number  of  members.  Two 
organizers  are  constantly  on  the  road  organizing  new  lodges, 
and  instructing  those  already  organized.  The  growth  of  the 
Brotherhood  has,  indeed,  been  phenomenal.  Its  officers  ex- 
pect to  see  it  become  in  a  short  time  the  strongest  railway 
organization  in  existence,  as  there  are  two,  and  in  some  cases 
three,  brakemen  to  one  conductor,  engineer  or  fireman. 
Already  the  members  enjoy  many  privileges  which  were 
considered  beyond  their  reach  three  years  ago,  and  these 
are  but  a  small  part  of  what  may  readily  be  obtained  by 
united  effort.  The  Order  enjoys  friendly  relations  with  all 
railway  companies,  and  its  future  looks  very  bright. 

The  Brotherhood  has  been,  on  the  whole,  especially  fortu- 
nate in  its  choice  of  officers,  and  is  to-day  exceedingly  well 
supplied  in  that  respect.  The  preamble  of  its  constitution 
states  the  purposes  of  the  organization  to  be  :  To  unite  the 
railroad  brakemen  of  the  Western  hemisphere ;  to  promote 
their  general  welfare,  and  advance  their  interests,  social, 
moral  and  intellectual ;  to  protect  their  families  by  the  exer- 
cise of  a  systematic  benevolence ;  and  to  establish  mutual 
confidence,  and  create  and  maintain  harmonious  relations 
between  the  members  and  their  employers. 

Unlike  some  other  organizations  of  railroad  men,  the 
Brotherhood  never  had  a  strike.  Secretary  O'Shea,  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  says:  "Our  Brotherhood  has  never  had  a 
strike ;  we  are  opposed  to  strikes  as  a  means  of  settling  dis- 
putes and  differences  between  employer  and  employee.  A 
strike  should  never  be  engaged  in  until  all  means  of  arbitra- 
tion have  failed,  and  then  only  as  a  last  resort." 

On  May  24, 1886,  there  were  twenty-six  members  expelled, 
and  thirty  suspended  for  inaugurating  and  conducting  a  cause- 
less strike  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railway. 

The  brakemen,  like  all  other  railroad  men,  are  very  char- 


328  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

itable  towards  their  fellows  ;  and  this  Order  has  already  paid 
out  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  benefit-claims 
alone  to  the  families  of  dead  and  disabled  members. 

The  Grand  Officers  for  1885-86  are  as  follows  :  Grand 
Master,  S.  E.  Wilkinson,  Peoria,  111.  ;  Grand  Vice-Master, 
Neil  Sullivan,  Binghampton,  N.  Y.  ;  Grand  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  Ed.  F.  O'Shea,  Galesburg,  111. ;  Grand  Organizer 
and  Instructor,  L.  C.  Foster,  Jr.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  ;  Board  of 
Trustees  —  S.  E.  Wilkinson,  Chairman,  Peoria,  111.;  Daniel 
L.  Cease,  Secretary,  Phillipsburg,  N.  J.  ;  Daniel  J.  McCarty, 
Oneonta,  N.  Yl ;  T.  J.  Shehan,  Denver,  Col.  Editors  of 
Magazine — J.  P.  Bledsoe,  Rock  Island,  111.,  and  Ed.  F. 
O'Shea,  Galesburg,  111. 

THE  SWITCHMEN'S  ASSOCIATION. 

The  first  Switchmen's  Association  was  founded  in  Chicago, 
August,  1877.  It  was  a  local  society,  chartered  by  the  State 
of  Illinois.  The  charter-members  were  :  Edward  W.  Jen- 
nings, Thomas  Griffin,  James  Cullerton,  William  Hopper, 
Thaddeus  Boyd,  Thomas  Green,  Edward  Scanlon,  John 
.Kenny,  William  Short,  Charles  Richardson,  William  Rosen- 
crause  and  John  Reily.  The  first  officers  were  :  William 
Hopper,  President ;  Thaddeus  Boyd,  Vice-President ;  Thomas 
Griffin,  James  Cullerton  and  Edward  W.  Jennings,  Trustees. 
Little  was  done  but  maintain  the  organization  until  1884,  when 
the  spirit  of  the  times  and  new  officers  of  unusual  energy,  ability, 
and  enthusiasm  infused  new  life  into  the  association.  Many 
new  associations  were  formed,  and  the  need  of  a  national 
organization  became  manifest.  In  response  to  a  call,  a  large 
number  of  representative  switchmen  met  at  112  East  Ran- 
dolph street,  Chicago,  February  22,  1886.  The  meeting 
lasted  eight  days,  and  was  very  harmonious  and  enthusiastic. 
Mr.  John  Drury,  of  Chicago,  called  the  delegates  to  order,  and 
was  chosen  as  chairman.  The  other  officers  were  :  James  A. 
Healey,  of  Chicago,  Secretary ;  Joseph  D.  Hill,  of  Kansas 
City,  Reading  Clerk;  M.  J.  Keegan,  of  Chicago,  Sergeant- 
at-Arms.  A  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted,  and  these 
officers  chosen  for  the  current  year :  James  L.  Monaghan,  of 


THE    ORGANIZATION    COMPLETED. 


329 


Chicago,  Grand  Master;  John  Drury,  Vice-Grand  Master 
and  Instructor ;  John  Downey,  of  Chicago,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer  ;  M.  J.  Keegan,  James  A.  Kelly,  W.  A.  Simmons 
and  James  A.  Healey,  all  of  Chicago ;  Joseph  D.  Hill,  of 
Kansas  City ;  J.  L.  Hyer,  of  Rock  Island,  and  W.  R.  Davi- 
son,  of  Joliet,  Board  of  Directors.  A  uniform  price  was 
adopted,  and  it  was  voted  to  aid  in  the  publication  of  a 
monthly  journal,  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Order.  The 
full  title  of  the  association  is, "  The  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid 
Association  of  the  United  States  of  America."  Its  purposes 
are  mutual  advancement,  mutual  protection,  and  mutual  good, 
especially  caring  for  its  members  who  may  be  injured  in  their 
dangerous  calling,  and  those  dependent  upon  them. 

ORDER    OF    RAILWAY    CONDUCTORS. 

The  Order  of  Railway  Conductors  of  North  America  was 
organized  at  Mendota,  111.,  in  1868.  Its  records,  however, 
have  been  very  imperfectly  kept,  and  a  consecutive  history 
of  its  growth  is  impossible.  It  is  fraternal  and  benevolent 
in  its  objects.  C.  S.  Wheaton,  of  Chicago,  is  Grand  Chief 
Conductor;  W.  P.  Daniels,  of  Chicago,  Grand  Secretary  and 
Treasurer;  J.  R.  Robinson,  of  Milwaukee,  Hiram  Hurty,  of 
Elmira,  N.  Y.,  and  E.  H.  Belknap,  of  Galesburg,  111.,  Execu- 
tive Committee;  C.  S.  Wheaton,  W.  H.  Ingram,  of  St. 
Thomas,  Ont.,  and  W.  S.  Sears,  of  Adrian,  Mich.,  Insur- 
ance Committee  :  W.  P.  Daniels,  of  Chicago,  Editor  of  the 
Railway  Conductors'  Monthly,  with  C.  S.  Wheaton,  E.  B. 
Coman,  of  Kansas  City,  Orange  Sackett,  of  Avon,  N.  Y. ,  and 
J.  B.  W.  Johnstone,  of  Corsicana,  Tex.,  Associate  Editors. 

MASTER-MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION. 

The  First  Convention  of  the  American  Railway  Master- 
Mechanics  was  held  at  Cleveland,  O.,  September  30,  1868, 
some  fifty  or  sixty  prominent  mechanics  being  present,  and 
"The  American  Master-Mechanics'  Association"  was  then 
and  there  formed.  H.  M.  Britton,  of  the  Indianapolis, 
Cincinnati  &  LaFayette  was  chosen  President;  N.  E. 
Chapman,  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh,  Vice-President ; 


33°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Frederick  Grinnell,  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great  Western,  Sec- 
retary;  S.  S.  Hays,  of  the  Illinois  Central,  Treasurer. 
A  constitution  was  adopted,  and  signed  by  thirty-eight  mem- 
bers, representing  Eastern  and  Western  roads.  The  Asso- 
ciation, as  formed,  admitted  to  membership  master-mechanics, 
those  in  charge  of  the  mechanical  departments,  general 
master-mechanics,  and  master-machinists.  The  officers  are 
chosen  annually. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    BUILDING    TRADES. 

"  Good  now,  sit  down  and  tell  me,  he  that  knows, 
Why  this  same  strict  and  most  observant  watch 
So  nightly  toils  the  subject  of  the  land ; 
And  why  such  daily  cast  of  brazen  cannon, 
And  foreign  mart  for  implements  of  war; 
Why  such  impress  of  shipwrights,  whose  sore  task 
Does  not  divide  the  Sunday  from  the  week, 
What  might  be  toward,  that  this  sweaty  haste 
Doth  make  the  night  joint  laborer  with  the  day : 
Who  is  't  that  can  inform  me  ? " 

Hamlet,  Act  /,  Scene  I. 

SHIP-BUILDING  THE  EARLIEST  INDUSTRY  — EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY,  1631  — 
THE  LUNCHEON  PRIVILEGE  —  A  MOST  REMARKABLE  RACE  —  WORK 
FROM  SUN  TO  SUN  —  DEMAND  FOR  LESS  HOURS — THE  BLACK-LIST — • 
FAILURE  OF  THE  FIRST  STRIKE  FOR  TEN  HOURS  —  CAPTAIN  RICHARD 
TREVELLICK'S  STATEMENT  —  UNIQUE  DESCRIPTION  —  TEN-HOUR  SYS- 
TEM GAINED  ON  OLD  WORK — THIRTY  YEARS'  ADVANCE  —  MECHANICS' 
BELL — TEN-HOUR  BELL  —  THE  BELL  DISAPPEARS  —  BROUGHT  BACK 
WITH  GREAT  REJOICING  —  STATEMENT  OF  AN  OLD  SHIP-CARPENTER  — 
AGITATION  FOR  EIGHT  HOURS  —  CALIFORNIA  SHIP-BUILDERS  —  STRIKE 
FOR  EIGHT  HOURS,  1853  —  STRIKES  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  PHILADEL- 
PHIA—  ORGANIZATION  OF  HOUSE-CARPENTERS'  ASSOCIATION  —  EIGHT- 
HOUR  MOVEMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA  —  MEETINGS  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  NEW 
JERSEY  —  HORACE  GREELEY  BEFORE  THE  BUILDING  TRADES — THE 
AMALGAMATED  SOCIETY  OF  CARPENTERS  AND  JOINERS  —  BROTHER- 
HOOD OF  CARPENTERS  AND  JOINERS  —  OBJECTS,  METHODS  AND  BENE- 
FITS—  NINE  HOURS  ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  —  P.  J.  McGuiRE's  RE- 
PORTS—  STRIKES  FOR  EIGHT  HOURS. 

SHIP-BUILDERS. 

FROM  Shakespeare's  time  to  1835,  tne  shipwright's  work 
could  well  be  described  as  "  sweaty  haste,"  with  the 
night  made  "joint  laborer  with  the  day  ;"  yet  the  shipwright, 
in  spite  of  hard  physical  labor  and  wearing  hours,  was  a 
thinker  as  well  as  a  worker,  and  to  him  is  largely  due  the 
direction  of  the  labor  movement  toward  less  hours  of  toil. 

(330 


332  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  annals  of  the  building  trade  are  meagre.  A  careful 
examination  of  the  local  histories  of  the  old  seaport  towns 
of  New  England  furnishes  us,  however,  with  many  interest- 
ing details.  The  inquiry  has  also  been  productive  of  results 
of  a  moral  and  intellectual  character,  and  broad,  historical 
tendencies  have  been  discovered,  which  it  is  hoped  will  prove 
of  sociological  values  to  the  student  of  that  science. 

Ships  were  built  in  Boston  as  early  as  1642,  and  a  map 
dated  1743  shows  twelve  ship-yards  located  in  the  city  proper. 
The  same  number  is  contained  in  the  map  of  the  siege  of 
Boston,  dated  1775.  This  industry  was  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance to  excite  the  opposition  of  the  merchants  and  ship- 
builders of  England ;  for  the  London  master-shipwrights,  in 
an  address  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  in  1724,  said  that  in  the 
eight  years  ending  in  1720,  there  were  seven  hundred  sail  of 
ships  built  in  New  England.  Many  of  these  vessels  were 
of  large  size,  even  for  our  own  times. 

Governor  Winthrop,  the  royal  governor  of  New  Hampshire, 
wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Trades,  at  the  same  time,  that  a  ship  was 
building  in  Massachusetts  of  one  thousand  tons,  to  mount  sev- 
enty guns. 

On  May  28,  1629,  the  Company's  Court  wrote  Governor 
Endicott  a  letter,  in  which  reference  was  made  to  a  bark 
already  built  in  the  country,  from  which  it  appears,  as  Mr. 
Felt  says,  in  his  "History  of  Salem,"  that  a  vessel  had  been 
built,  most  probably  at  Naumkeag,  and  that  the  "Desire," 
afterwards  launched  at  Marblehead,  was  not  the  first  vessel 
built  in  the  colony. 

In  those  early  days,  a  sense  of  justice  and  equity  seemed  to 
provide  for  that  which  the  workmen  are  now  seeking  to  cover 
by  the  employers'  liability  law ;  for,  in  1631,  while  Richard 
Hollingsworth  was  engaged  in  building  a  large  vessel,  one 
of  his  workmen  was  killed,  and  Hollingsworth  was  required 
by  the  Court  of  Assizes  to  pay  ten  pounds  sterling  to  the 
wife  and  children  of  the  deceased,  because  they  thought 
that  sufficient  care  was  not  taken  to  'have  his  tackle  strong 
enough. 

In   1631,  the  bark,  "The  Blessing  of  the  Bay,"  built  by 


THE    LUNCHEON    TIME.  333 

Governor  Winthrop,  was  launched  at  Mystic.  The  cost  of 
this  bark  was  said  to  be  £145,  being  of  thirty  tons'  burthen. 

The  colonists  were  evidently  determined  to  have  good  work, 
as  on  October  7,  1641,  it  was  ordered  that,  when  any  ship  was 
to  be  built  within  that  jurisdiction,  it  should  be  lawful  for  the 
owners  to  appoint  and  put  in  some  able  man  to  survey  the 
work  and  workmen  from  time  to  time,  to  see  that  it  be 
performed  and  carried  on  according  to  the  rules  of  their  art ; 
and,  on  May  29,  1644,  the  General  Court  proposed  the  for- 
mation of  a  company  of  ship-builders,  with  power  to  regu- 
late the  building  of  ships,  and  to  make  such  orders  and  laws 
amongst  themselves  as  might  conduce  to  the  public  good. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  the  town  of  Med- 
ford,  Mass.,  carried  on  quite  an  extensive  ship-building  busi- 
ness, the  Middlesex  Canal  giving  them  facilities  for  getting 
their  timber.  From  1803  to  1855,  232,206  tons  of  shipping 
were  built  at  this  place,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $10,449,270, 
or  $45  per  ton. 

It  had  been  the  custom  in  this  industry,  as  well  as  in  others, 
to  furnish  drink  or  grog  at  various  intervals  in  the  day.  In 

O         O  J 

1817,  Thacher  Magoun,  a  ship-builder,  determined  to  abolish 
the  grog  privilege.  The  ceremony  of  laying  the  keel,  and 
of  commencing  each  part  of  the  work,  as  also  the  christening 
or  naming  of  a  vessel,  was  always  accompanied  with  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits.  Upon  Mr.  Magoun  giving  notice  that  no 
liquor  could  be  used  in  his  ship-yard,  the  words  ((JVo  JRnin! 
No  RUM  ! "  were  written  upon  nearly  every  clap-board  of  the 
workshop,  and  on  each  timber  in  the  yard.  Some  of  the 
men  refused  to  work,  but  finally  all  gave  in,  and  a  ship  was 
built  without  the  use  of  liquor  in  any,  form. 

The  hours  of  labor  at  that  time  were  from  sunrise  to  sunset, 
and  all  employers  were  obliged  by  custom  to  furnish  liquor  free 
at  least  twice  a  day.  These  two  periods  for  drink  were  really 
periods  of  rest,  and  were  called  luncheon  times,  the  men 
having  an  opportunity  to  eat  as  well  as  drink,  and  Mr.  Ma- 
goun's  no-rum  movement  meant  no  luncheon  time,  and  was 
practically  an  increase  in  the  working  time,  the  employer  thus 
saving  the  cost  of  time  as  well  as  the  cost  of  the  rum.  The 


334  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

hours  of  this  luncheon  privilege  were  eleven  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon, and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

Many  of  the  workmen  who  were  temperance  men  were  in- 
dignant at  the  action  of  their  employer,  as  they  felt  that  the 
luncheon  times  were  as  oases  in  the  desert  of  unremitting 
toil. 

Drinking  habits  continued,  in  spite  of  this  innovation ;  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  the  agitation  for  temperance  in 
drink  coincides,  in  point  of  time,  with  the  agitation  for  temper- 
ance in  labor,  —  that  is,  for  shorter  hours. 

Richard  Henry  Dana,  in  his  "  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast," 
gives  considerable  space  to  the  introduction  of  this  reform, 
and  charges  some  of  the  reformers  with  the  most  selfish 
motives.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  neither  the  sailors 
nor  the  workingmen  were  very  favorably  impressed  by  the 
penurious  manner  in  which  the  change  was  brought  about. 
Mr.  Dana,  in  the  book  referred  to,  says  :  — 

This  was  a  temperance  ship,  and,  like- too  many  such  ships,  the  temperance 
was  all  in  the  forecastle.  The  sailor,  who  only  takes  his  one  glass  as  it  is 
dealt  out  to  him,  is  in  danger  of  being  drunk,  while  the  captain,  who  has  all 
under  his  hand  and  can  drink  as  much  as  he  chooses,  and  upon  whose  self- 
possession  and  cool  judgment  the  lives  of  all  depend,  may  be  trusted  with 
any  amount  to  drink  at  his  will.  By  seeing  it  allowed  to  their  officers,  they 
will  not  be  convinced  that  it  is  taken  from  them  for  their  good,  and,  receiving 
nothing  in  its  place,  they  will  not  believe  that  it  is  done  in  kindness. 

By  the  local  decay  of  ship-building  on  the  south  shore 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  this  force  of  ship  workers  was 
diffused,  carrying  with  them  certain  steady  tendencies  toward 
industrial  progress,  as  far  as  the  city  of  New  York  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  city  of  Bath,  Me.,  on  the  other.  None  of 
the  towns  on  the  south  shore  obtained  the  size  and  importance 
of  the  ship-building  localitied  on  he  north  shore.  It  thrived 
in  many  of  them  until  the  exhaustion  of  timber  and  the  de- 
mand for  large  vessels  transferres  the  industry  to  various 
points  on  the  north  shore  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

A  most  remarkable  race  and  local  development  presents 
itself  here,  calling  for  a  notice,  which  must  be  much  briefer 
than  its  importance  demands.  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
of  Scituate,  Marshfield,  Pembroke,  and  Hanover,  and  the 


THE    ROMAN    ELEMENT. 


335 


region  thereabouts,  were,  and  are  to  this  day,  distinctively 
marked  by  the  mental  and  physical  characteristics  of  the 
Roman  people.  One  cannot  be  familiar  with  them  without 
noticing  the  Roman  cast  of  countenance,  and  the  prevalence 
among  the  women  of  Latin  names,  such  as  Julia,  Marcia, 
Sylvia,  etc.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  first 
settlers  of  these  localities  came  from  the  south-east  portions 
of  England.  That  part  of  our  mother-country  was  the  first 
that  was  occupied  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  the  last  to  be  aban- 
doned by  the  legions.  Rome  held  possession  of  the  island 
more  than  four  hundred  years,  and  it  was  never  abandoned 
by  those  descended  from  the  Romans.  They  retained  their 
local  authority  and  customs,  especially  in  the  city  of  London, 
as  late  as  the  Danish  invasions  in  the  ninth  century.  The 
Anglo-Saxons,  though  nominally  in  authority,  were  glad  to 
make  common  cause  with  them  in  resisting  the  Danes.  It  is 
in  consequence  of  the  discovery  of  these  facts  that  the  theory 
of  the  exclusively  Saxon  character  of  English  civilization  is 
now  repudiated  by  some  able  scholars.* 

The  influence  of  this  Roman  element  in  forming  the  char- 
acter of  New  England  has  been,  as  in  old  England,  entirely 
overlooked ;  but  it  has  been  of  great  value.  Deane's  "  His- 
tory of  Scituate"  speaks  thus  of  the  original  colonists  : — 

Previous  to  1640,  most  of  the  population  was  from  the  county  of  Kent,  in 
England.  Many  of  them  were  from  London. 

After  giving  a  list  of  names,  it  says  :  — 

The  above-named  gentlemen,  and  others,  were  called  "men  of  Kent." 
*  *  *  *  It  was  a  natural  and  unavoidable  consequence,  that  in  this  wilder- 
ness a  less  polished  race  should  succeed ;  yet  many  of  their  fathers  survived 
the  darkest  period  of  the  colony,  and  gave  a  lasting  impression  of  their  man- 
ners upon  posterity.  *  *  *  *  The  North  River  was  celebrated  for  its  ship- 
building in  the  early  annals  of  the  colonies,  and  it  has  held  its  ascendancy 
until  late  years  [written  in  1831].  It  has  been  famous  for  the  education  of 
shipwrights,  -who  have  emigrated,  and  established  their  business  along  the 
-whole  coast,  from  New  York  to  the  furthest  boundary  of  Maine.  Scarce  a 
ship-yard  or  navy-yard  can  be  visited  in  this  whole  range  of  coast,  without 
meeting  many  workmen  who,  themselves  or  their  fathers,  were  educated  on 
the  North  River. 

*  See  "The  Romans  of  Britain,"  by  Henry  C.  Coote. 


336  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Here  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  some  of  the  main  currents 
of  history,  in  order  to  explain  fully  the  tendency  of  the  pre- 
ceding statements. 

Of  all  the  people  of  the  ancient  world,  the  Romans  had  the 
fiercest  contest  over  the  social  question,  and  the  empire  fell 
because  of  their  failure  to  adjust  it.  The  uprising  of  the 
peasantry  of  Essex  and  Kent,  in  1381,  —  the  two  counties 
of  England  the  most  deeply  impressed  by  the  Romans 
through  marriage  and  the  irregular  intercourse  of  the  sol- 
diers, —  was  a  reappearance  of  the  old  Roman  spirit  of  agra- 
rianism  in  their  descendants.  London,  even,  had  not  entirely 
lost  its  Roman  character,  as  is  shown  by  the  ready  union  of 
its  lower  classes  with  the  insurgents  under  Wat  Tyler.  The 
insult  to  the  girls,  and  the  swift  uprising  of  the  people  which 
followed,  was  substantially  a  repetition  of  the  scenes  con- 
nected with  the  assassination  of  Virginia  by  her  father,  and 
the  meeting  of  the  Roman  army  at  Mons  Sacer. 

The  strongly  marked  character  of  the  immigration  into 
Scituate  and  the  adjoining  towns  brought  the  seeds  of  the 
social  question  in  its  highest  form  to  our  shores.  By  all  the 
circumstances  of  their  origin,  these  humble  but  energetic  peo- 
ple were  fitted  to  revive  it  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  proper 
manner. 

As  the  Dutch  man-of  war  which  carried  the  first  Africans 
into  James  River  contained  the  seeds  which  were  to  ripen  in 
the  tremendous  struggle  which  has  just  ceased,  so  the  con- 
flict of  ideas  was  inaugurated  by  the  "  men  of  Kent "  in  the 
strike  of  1832,  by  the  south  shore  ship-carpenters,  laboring 
at  Boston  and  New  York.  They  triumphed  by  united  action 
and  peaceful  discussion.  They  proved  that  daily  labor  may 
be  limited  without  reduction  of  •production  or  wages,  or  in- 
jury to  society ;  and  in  doing  this  they  were  the  first  to  lay  a 
broad  and  firm  foundation  for  the  elevation  of  the  working 
classes  of  the  earth. 

The  story  of  the  struggle  of  the  ship-workers  and  build- 
ing trades  in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  has  been  told  in 
Chapter  IV,  "The  History  of  the  Movement  Before  the  War." 
It  is  evident  that  they  were  among  the  first  to  organize  their 


OPPOSITION    OF    THE    MERCHANTS.  337 

craft  into  unions,  and  that  they  jealously  guarded  its  interests, 
bringing  their  apprentices  into  the  rules  and  customs  of  the 
craft  on  the  completion  of  their  apprenticeship.  They  seem 
to  have  been  the  first  to  bring  the  question  of  the  hours  of 
labor  to  a  direct  issue.  The  journeymen  mechanics  and 
master-mechanics  of  1825  and  1830  were  the  employees  of 
the  merchants,  so  that  the  contest  of  the  ship-workers  of  that 
time  was  with  the  merchants  rather  than  with  their  direct  em- 
ployers. 

Calkers,  from  the  painful  positions  of  their  labor  and  other 
causes,  were  especially  prominent,  if  not  really  in  advance 
of  the  ship-carpenters  in  matters  of  organizing.  They  were 
a  set  of  rough  and  ready  men,  interested  in  public  affairs,  and 
from  the  date  of  the  agitation  against  the  oppressive  acts  of 
Great  Britain  convened  together,  often  in  a  social  manner, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  the  word  "  caucus,"  now  so  much  out 
of  repute,  and  yet  a  necessity  for  political  methods,  was  first 
derived  from  the  words  "  calkers'  meeting." 

The  New  York  Society  of  Journeymen  Shipwrights  was 
incorporated  on  April  30,  1803,  and  the  house-carpenters  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  in  1806.  We  have  not  records  of  these 
societies,  —  no  account  of  their  objects  or  methods. 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  merchants  at  that  time 
against  reducing  the  hours  from  fourteen  to  ten  are  very  simi- 
lar in  their  character  to  the  position  taken  by  them  in  the 
recent  demand  of  the  mechanics  of  the  country  for  eight 
hours.  The  merchants  of  that  day  said  to  their  fourteen- 
hour  workmen,  "No  unreasonable  service  is  expected  or  re- 
quired ;"  but  the  ship-carpenters  and  caulkers  still  continued 
to  think  it  unreasonable  service,  and  continued  their  struggle, 
often  at  great  sacrifice  of  time  and  money. 

We  give  the  following  resolutions,  adopted  by  the  mer- 
chants, entire  :  — 

Resolved,  That  we  view  with  deep  regret  the  course  that  some  of  our  fellow- 
citizens,  journeymen  ship-carpenters,  caulkers  and  others,  are  pursuing  in  the 
adoption  and  maintenance  of  a  system  of  measures  designed  to  coerce  indi- 
viduals of  their  craft,  and  to  prescribe  the  time  and  manner  of  the  labor  for 
which  they  are  liberally  paid. 


338  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Resolved,  In  our  opinion,  the  tendency  of  this  combinatiou  of  ship-carpen- 
ters, caulkers  and  others,  instead  of  benefiting  them,  has  a  direct  tendency 
either  to  put  their  business  into  other  hands  or  seriously  to  injure  it  by  in- 
ducing ship-owners  to  repair  their  vessels  elsewhere  rather  than  submit  to  the 
inconveniences,  delays  and  vexations  to  which  they  would  be  exposed  when 
they  can  obtain  labor  only  at  such  times  and  on  such  conditions  as  the  folly 
and  caprice  of  a  few  journeymen  mechanics  may  dictate,  who  are  now  idle 
two  or  three  of  the  most  valuable  hours  in  the  day. 

They  then  proceeded  to  declare  their  intention  to  blacklist 
all  persons  who  belonged  to  the  association. 

In  an  appeal  of  the  ship-workers  to  the  merchants  of  Bos- 
ton, dated  May  21,  1832,  the  grievances  of  which  they  com- 
plained, in  addition  to  the  long  hours,  were,  that  if  a  vessel 
had  to  be  moved  from  one  part  of  the  city  to  another,  they 
were  compelled  to  assist  in  doing  it ;  that  after  getting  the 
vessel  in  place,  if  the  weather  was  unfavorable,  they  had  to 
wait,  and  were  sometimes  detained  three  or  four  days  before 
they  could  commence  work  on  her  ;  that  they  were  compelled 
to  be  at  the  yard  in  the  morning  by  sunrise  and  labor  until 
sunset  of  the  longest  days,  wTith  hardly  time  to  get  their 
meals,  and  if  anyone  happened  to  be  tardy,  the  finger  of 
scorn  was  pointed  at  them,  and  the  employer  would  say, 
"Where  have  you  be'en?"  or,  "If  you  don't  come  earlier,  I  will 
not  employ  you  any  more."  They  complained  that  it  was  but 
few  of  them  that  could  make  both  ends  meet  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  They  also  complained  that  sometimes  it  happened  that 
it  would  commence  to  rain  after  they  had  been  at  work  two 
hours,  and  that  they  would  not  be  paid  for  their  two  hours  of 
work. 

The  statements  in  respect  to  overwork  have  an  important 
bearing  on  the  question  of  the  adaptation  of  reduced  hours  of 
labor  to  exceptional  trades,  such  as  moulders,  who  must  attend 
to  furnaces,  etc.  It  was  quite  properly  asserted,  by  the  em- 
ployers, that  as  many  of  the  jobs  called  for  early  and  late 
labor  on  account  of  the  tides,  the  reform  was  inapplicable 
to  the  repairs  of  shipping.  The  men  claimed  that  they  would 
cheerfully  meet  this  objection  by  extra  hours  when  the  exigen- 
cies demanded  it.  The  event  has  justified  their  position,  as 
there  is  at  present  no  friction  from  this  cause,  nor  has  there 


MEETING    OF    SHIP-WORKERS. 


339 


been  during  all  the  thirty  years  or  more  in  which  eight  hours 
has  been  established. 

It  is  worthy  of  further  note,  as  bearing  on  other  callings, 
that  the  extraordinary  demand  for  ships  during  the  California 
emigration  in  1850,  and  thereafter,  was  met  without  overwork, 
and  without  breaking  down  the  ten-hour  day,  which  had  by 
that  time  extended  to  the  ship-yards. 

The  demand  was  so  sudden  and  imperative  that  ships  of 
two  thousand  tons,  and  more,  were  contracted  for  under  pen- 
alty of  a  heavy  daily  forfeiture  if  they  were  not  alongside  of  a 
wharf,  ready  for  their  cargo,  in  ninety  days.  The  contracts 
were  met ;  thus  proving  the  existence  of  a  flexibility  in  the 
conditions  of  toil,  of  which  we  had  been  previously  ignorant. 

That  the  same  result  would  happen  in  the  case  of  the  great 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  is  believed  by  those  most  con- 
versant with  the  facts.  It  is  claimed  by  the  employers  that  the 
hours  in  that  business  do  not  admit  of  a  reduction  below  ten, 
on  account  of  the  necessity  of  filling  orders  rapidly,  but  the 
mistakes  and  misapprehensions  of  the  past  on  this  subject  are 
too  evident  to  give  the  claim  much  value.  It  may  be  safely 
inferred  that  the  piece-working  shoemakers  of  the  country 
will  inaugurate  the  change  when  its  merits  are  fully  under- 
stood. 

A  very  large  sum  of  money  was  subscribed  by  the  mer- 
chants to  defeat  the  ten-hour  movement.  A  meeting  of  the 
ship-workers  was  held  shortly  afterwards,  at  which  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  indicating  that  they  were  willing  to  work 
more  than  ten  hours  a  day  for  additional  pay ;  and  it  was 
further  resolved  by  them 

That  we  think  it  an  unreasonable  representation  to  make  towards  the  so- 
ciety of  which  we  are  the  members,  to  state  in  public  print  that  we  are  vexa- 
tious, and  that  we  refused  to  work  any  more  than  ten  hours  pef  day.  We  are 
willing  to  receive  any  communication  or  meet  any  committee  in  a  fair  and 
honorable  way. 

Resolved,  That,  from  and  after  the  2oth  of  March  until  the  ist  of  Septem- 
ber, we  will  not  labor  more  than  ten  hours  per  day,  unless  being  paid  extra 
for  each  and  every  hour;  and  that  we  are  willing,  if  requested,  to  begin  at 
half-past  four  in  the  morning,  and  labor  not  exceeding  ten  hours,  or  we  will 
work  later  in  the  evening,  if  requested,  not  exceeding  ten,  by  being  paid 
therefor. 


34°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  following  extract  from  a  communication  published  in 
one  of  the  Boston  daily  papers  will  show  the  feeling  which 
existed  against  the  objects  and  organization  of  the  men  :  — 

Had  this  unlawful  combination  had  for  its  object  the  enhancement  of  daily 
wages,  it  would  have  been  left  to  its  own  care;  but  it  now  strikes  the  very 
nerve  of  industry  and  good  morals,  by  dictating  the  hours  of  labor,  abro- 
gating the  good  old  rule  of  our  fathers,  and  pointing  out  the  most  direct 
course  to  poverty;  for  to  be  idle  several  of  the  most  useful  hours  of  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  will  surely  lead  to  intemperance  and  ruin. 

That  our  readers  at  a  distance  may  know  the  truth  of  their  "  oppression," 
we  state  that  the  hours  of  labor  are  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  allowing  two 
hours  for  meals;  and  for  this  service  a  journeyman,  who  is  a  tolerable  work- 
man, gets  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  Thus,  for  one  good,  old-fashioned 
day's  work,  enough  is  paid  to  defray  the  board  of  a  whole  week.  The  vicis- 
situdes of  weather  may  occasion,  at  times,  the  loss  of  a  day;  but  the  ship- 
wright is  no  more  exposed  to  this  casualty  than  is  the  mason,  carpenter, 
painter,  or  many  other  tradesmen,  who  work  as  many  hours  as  they  can  see 
for  much  less  pay  than  the  complaining  ship-wrights  get.  The  truth  is,  that 
such  combinations  never  take  place  but  in  times  of  great  depression,  or,  the 
reverse,  of  extreme  prosperity,  as  is  now  the  case  with  all  whose  labor 
depends  upon  the  shipping  interest.  The  course  which  th«  persons  alluded 
to  are  thus  pursuing  will  tend  to  lose  them  the  respect  not  only  of  the  mer- 
chants, their  direct  employers,  but  of  all  members  of  the  community,  and 
finally  of  themselves. 

The  journeymen  carpenters  and  calkers  failed  to  secure 
what  they  sought;  but,  through  July  and  August,  1832,  they 
were  allowed  two  hours  at  noon,  because  of  the  extreme 
warmth  of  the  weather  and  the  fear  of  pestilence. 

The  defeat  of  the  first  strike  for  ten  hours  appeared  at  the 
time  to  be  disastrous  and  humiliating.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  moral  effect  of  the  repulse  was  more  beneficial 
than  victory  would  have  been.  Sympathy  was  aroused,  the 
interests  of  cultivated  circles  were  enlisted,  and  yet  when  the 
ten-hour  day  was  gained,  it  was  gained  as  the  result  of  a 
strike. 

While  the  merchants  of  Boston  were  saying  that  it  was 
impossible  to  conduct  their  business  on  the  ten-hour  system, 
the  system  was  adopted  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  after 
a  struggle,  of  which  mention  will  be  made  hereafter,  and  it 
was  working  satisfactorily. 

The  arguments  adduced    by    the  representatives  of  labor 


RICHARD    TREVELLICK. 


341 


in  favor  of  the  ten-hour  movement  did  not  fail  to  have  their 
effect  upon  the  thoughtful  minds  in  the  community.  An 
article  in  the  New  England  Magazine  —  a  magazine  of  high 
rank  in  that  day  (1835)  — spoke  in  no  uncertain  terms.  It 
charged  that  the  employing  class  was  so  exclusively  engaged 
in  its  own  affairs  that  the  laborer  was  not  only  greatly  neg- 
lected, but  constantly  liable  to  have  his  rights  trampled  upon, 
and  to  be  injured  by  the  competition  of  foreigners,  whose 
increase  ought  to  be  checked  by  legislation.  The  writer 
says : — 

Is  there  no  duty  to  be  discharged  ?  Is  there  nothing  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  great  mass  of  uneducated  minds  whose  restless  hearings  are  felt  in  every 
part  of  the  land?  Is  there  no  danger' that  this  chaos  of  intellect  may,  ere 
long,  break  forth  like  the  rushing  storm,  and  cover  the  country  with  desola- 
tion far  and  wide  ? 

Public  sentiment  grew  stronger  in  favor  of  the  ship-workers, 
and  the  boon  gained  by  New  York  and  Philadelphia  in  1832 
or  1833  spread  along  the  coast,  and  culminated  in  the  procla- 
mation of  President  Van  Buren,  fixing  the  hours  of  labor  for 
persons  employed  in  the  navy-yards. 

Captain  Richard  Trevellick,  now  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  who 
was  a  ship-carpenter  in  New  York  in  the  early  days  of  the 
movement,  thus  describes  the  conditions  under  which  the  men 
worked,  in  letters  to  JFtncher's  National  Trades  Review :  — 

Everywhere,  from  the  Government  ship-yards  down  to  the  ten-ton  sloop  set 
up  in  the  woods  miles  from  any  place,  the  rule  holds  good.  Hurrah!  hurry 
and  hiring  men  to-day;  to-morrow,  or  day  after,  or  next  week,  the  place  is  as 
quiet  as  a  grave-yard ;  the  crisis  is  passed,  hurry  is  over,  the  craft  launched 
and  gone,  and  so  all  the  craftsmen  —  scattered  in  as  many  directions,  perhaps, 
as  there  are  men,  in  search  of  some  other  three-weeks'  job. 

In  some  four  or  five  of  our  larger  cities  ship-work  is  something  more  con- 
tinuous and  reliable ;  but  even  they  are  by  no  means  exempt  from  depressions 
and  sudden  fluctuations ;  and  whenever  the  "  slack  time"  comes  if  the  ship- 
carpenter,  caulker,  joiner,  etc.,  is  not  absolutely  discharged,  his  wages  are 
reduced  until  he  finds  himself  wondering  "what  he  will  do  Avith  it,"  his 
remuneration,  at  the  highest  figure,  being  no  greater  than  that  of  some  half 
a  dozen  other  classes  of  mechanics,  whose  employment  is  constant  and  always 
under  shelter,  so  that  whatever  time  they  may  lose  is  voluntary. 

He  speaks  thus  of  the  regulation  of  the  day's  work  :  — 

As  the  order  of  labor  in  those  days  was  to  fall  to  in  the  morning  at  the  first 
glance  the  bosses  could  catch  at  a  sunbeam  gilding  the  tallest  spire  in  sight, 


342  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

—  there  being  no  steeple  in  sight  from  the  "Hook,"  bosses  used  to  catch  their 
matin  sunbeams  from  the  vane  of  the  i/o-foot  Liberty-pole  over  in  Grand 
street,  below  Lewis, — the  stretch  during  the  summer  solstice,  from  "com- 
mencement" to  twelve  o'clock,  was  rather  a  long  and  tedious  one.  It  would 
have  been  far  more  tedious  but  for  an  indulgence  that  custom  had  made  as 
much  of  a  necessity  in  a  New  York  ship-yard  as  a  grind-stone. 

In  our  yard,  at  half-past  eight  A.  M.,  Aunt  Arlie  McVane,  a  clever,  kind- 
hearted,  but  awfully  uncouth,  rough  sample  of  the  "  Ould  Sod,"  would  make 
her  welcome  appearance  in  the  yard  with  her  two  great  baskets,  stowed  and 
checked  off  with  crullers,  doughnuts,  ginger-bread,  turnovers,  pies,  and  a 
variety  of  sweet  cookies  and  cakes;  and  from  the  time  Aunt  Arlie's  baskets 
came  in  sight  until  every  man  and  boy,  bosses  and  all,  in  the  yard,  had  been 
supplied,  always  at  one  cent  apiece  for  any  article  in  the  cargo,  the'  pie,  cake 
and  cookie  trade  was  a  brisk  one.  Aunt  Arlie  would  usually  make  the  round 
of  the  yard  and  supply  all  hands  in  about  an  hour,  bringing  the  forenoon  up 
to  half-past  nine,  and  giving  us  from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes'  breathing  spell 
during  lunch  ;  no  one  ever  hurried  during  "  cake-time." 

After  this  was  over  we  would  fall  to  again,  until  interrupted  by  Johnnie 
Gogean,  the  English  candy-man,  who  came  in  always  about  half-past  ten, 
with  his  great  board,  the  size  of  a  medium  extension  dining-table,  slung  be- 
fore him,  covered  with  all  sorts  of  "stick,"  and  several  of  sticky,  candy,  in 
one-cent  lots.  Bosses,  boys  and  men  —  all  hands,  everybody  —  invested  one 
to  three  cents  in  Johnnie's  sweet  wares,  and  another  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  is 
spent  in  consuming  it.  Johnnie  usually  sailed  out  with  a  bare  board  about 
eleven  o'clock,  at  which  time  there  was  a  general  sailing  out  of  the  yard  and 
into  convenient  grog-shops  after  whiskey;  only  we  had  four  or  five  men 
among  us,  and  one  apprentice  —  not  quite  a  year  my  senior  —  who  used  to  sail 
out  pretty  regularly  ten  times  a  day  on  an  average  ;  two  that  went  for  whiskey 
only  when  some  one  invited  them  to  drink,  being  too  mean  to  treat  them- 
selves ;  and  two  more  who  never  went  at  all. 

In  the  afternoon,  about  half-past  three,  we  had  a  cake-lunch,  supplied  by 
Uncle  Jack  Grider,  an  old,  crippled,  superannuated  ship-carpenter.  No  one  else 
was  ever  allowed  to  come  in  competition  with  our  caterers.  Let  a  foreign 
candy-board  or  cake-basket  make  their  appearance  inside  of  the  gates  of  our 
yard,  and  they  would  get  chipped  out  of  that  directly. 

At  about  five  o'clock  P.  M.,  always,  Johnnie  used  to  put  in  his  second  ap- 
pearance; and  then,  having  expended  money  in  another  stick  or  two  of  candy, 
and  ten  minutes  or  so  in  its  consumption,  we  were  ready  to  drive  away  again 
till  sun-down ;  then  off  home  to  supper. 

Captain   Trevellick,  the   same  writer,  thus    describes   the 
methods  of  settling  difficulties  in  1835  :  — 

Thirty  years  ago  the  mechanics  of  the  country  had  no  other  resource,  no 
available  means  of  coping  with  and  conquering  capital,  whenever  it  began  to 
inflict  upon  us  its  more  objectionable  features  of  serfdom,  than  by  prompt  and 
absolute  defiance  in  refusals  to  labor  until  demands  that  we  believed  to  be  just 
were  complied  with.  In  those  days  there  was  little  of  tact,  diplomacy,  or  spirit 
of  concession  manifested  in  any  of  our  strikes.  They  were  crude  in  concep- 


A    POOR    COLLECTION. 


343 


tion,  stubbornly  contested,  and  resulted  always  in  something  of  humiliation  to 
the  conquered  party,  —  a  sentiment  never  conducive  to  cordiality  in  the  future. 
Besides,  our  early  strikes  almost  always  resulted  in  pecuniary  loss  to  our- 
selves, whether  we  conquered  or  not. 

Nevertheless,  firmly  imbued  with  the  belief  that  our  strikes  being  justifia- 
ble, would  result  in  something  better  eventually,  in  some  form  that  was  all 
vague  and  indefinite  to  us  then,  we  persisted  in  our  strikes,  improving  their 
features  always  as  time  went  on,  doing  the  best  we  could,  under  the  circum- 
stances, to  protect  ourselves  and  prepare  the  way  for  future  mechanical  organi- 
zations more  perfect  in  their  moral  and  social  economy. 

Mechanical  mankind  had  labored  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  with  only  the  hour 
of  intermission  at  dinner-time,  so  long  that,  at  the  beginning  of  my  appren- 
ticeship, New  York  mechanics  of  all  classes  had  no  idea  of  a  briefer  term 
of  labor;  and  one  night,  when  some  premature  philosopher  and  philan- 
thropist (I  have  forgotten  who  he  was),  preached  ten  hours  to  eight  or  nine 
hundred  of  us  in  the  old  Broadway  Tabernacle,  telling  us  earnestly  that  the 
time  for  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  was  close  at  hand,  we  laughed  at  his 
absurd  theories,  ourselves  convinced  that  the  advent  of  a  ten-hour  system  of 
labor  was  ten  times  more  remote  than  that  of  the  millennium.  This  was,  not- 
withstanding an  honest,  earnest  and  most  eloquent  appeal  to  our  sympathies 
from  Mr.  James  Harpier,  then,  as  he  has  ever  been  since,  the  firm,  fast,  and 
consistent  friend  of  mechanics.  When  the  hats  were  passed  around  to  take 
up  a  collection  for  the  benefij  of  the  first  champion  of  the  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor,  so  little  did  we  understand  our  rights  and  necessities,  and  so 
ungrateful  were  we  for  the  stout  battle  done  in  our  behalf,  that  in  every  hat 
that  went  up  to  the  speaker's  stand  there  were  infinitely  more  of  Mrs.  Miller's 
"fine  cut,"  "  old  sojers,"  eyeless  brass  buttons,  and  "bungtown"  coppers 
than  silver  quarters,  shillings  and  sixpences. 

I  remember  distinctly  the  inimitably  droll,  sarcastic  manner  in  which  we 
were  reproved ;  it  made  many  of  us  hang  our  heads  in  shame,  and  sneak  off 
out  of  the  Tabernacle  as  though  we  had  been  detected  thieves. 

At  this  time  the  general  term  for  a  strike  was  "turn  out;" 
so  when,  some  time  after  this,  Mr.  Trevellick  was  informed 
that  they  were  going  to  "  strike  "  the  bosses,  he  supposed  that 
they  were  going  to  do  personal  violence,  and  he  protested ; 
but,  when  it  was  explained  to  him  that  they  were  to  "  turn 
out"  for  hours,  or  going  to  "strike"  for  hours,  he  joined 
issue  with  them.  This  was  at  the  time  of  one  of  the  great 
ship-carpenters'  strikes  for  the  ten-hour  system,  and  the  one 
which  proved  successful.  He  writes  :  — 

I  think  the  strike  continued  ten  days,  during  the  whole  of  which  time  our 
bosses  came  and  went  about  their  business,  just  as  if  there  was  no  difficulty 
any  whet  e;  and  when,  at  length,  our  rebels  returned,  saying  that  the  bosses 
up  the  "  island  "  had  agreed  to  the  ten-hour  regulation  and  all  hands  were 


344  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

goiog  to  work  again,  the  bosses  said,  "  Very  well,  you  can  come  on  whenever 
you  like."  Thus  was  the  ten-hour  rule  of  labor  inaugurated  among  New 
York  ship-mechanics,  and  again  all  went  on  quietly  as  before. 

Immediately  after  the  adoption  of  the  ten-hour  system,  a 
code  of  labor  regulations  was  adopted,  in  which  it  was  agreed 
that  all  the  work  performed  on  any  craft  afloat,  whether  new 
or  old,  was  to  be  considered  "old  work,"  on  which  the  day's 
work  was  to  be  nine  hours,  and  if  they  \vorked  till  bell-time 
it  was  to  count  an  extra  eighth.  So,  also,  if  they  went  to 
work  on  any  hurrying  old  job  at  six  in  the  morning,  that  hour 
was  to  be  another  eighth  of  a  day  to  them.  He  continued  :  — 

The  educational  advance  made  by  the  mechanical  and  laboring  classes  in 
the  United  States  since  the  inauguration  of  the  ten-hour  rule  of  labor  has 
been  more  than  equal  to  every  step  taken  in  that  direction  since  the  days  of 
John  the  Baptist,  and,  for  all  that  any  of  us  know  to  the  contrary,  a  thousand 
years  previous  to  that  era.  Add  the  other  two  hours  to  the  liberty  term,  and 
we  shall  increase  the  ratio  of  progress  threefold,  with  the  certainty  of  knowing 
that,  with  the  generation  next  following,  we  or  our  country  shall  have,  as  a 
rule,  mechanics  and  all  classes  of  laboring  men  and  women  educated  to  a 
standard  of  physical,  mental,  moral  and  social  excellence  that  will  be  its  own 
securitv  against  idleness,  vice,  degradation  and  misery. 

Comparing  the  advancement  made  in  different  sections, 
Mr.  Trevellick  writes  :  — 

The  mechanics  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  have  made,  I 
think,  about  five  times  the  progress  towards  moral  and  social  respectability 
within  the  last  twenty-five  years  that  the  Bostonians  have,  simply  because 
twenty-five  years  ago  Bostonians  had  five  times  fewer  steps  to  climb  up  the 
moral  and  social  ladder  than  the  mechanics  of  her  three  sister  cities  above 
named.  While  a  mechanical  apprentice  or  journeyman  mechanic  of  Boston 
was  just,  and  as  justly  proud  of  being  a  respectable  member  of  society,  and  a 
gentleman  in  general  deportment  twenty-five  or  thirtv  years  ago  as  they  are 
to-day,  with  us  in  New  York,  boy  or  man,  we  were  rather  proud  to  be  known 
as  one  of  the  infamous  "  Chichester  Gang,"  "  Sons  of  Harmony,"  or  a  "  Butt- 
Ender."  Philadelphia  mechanics  of  that  day  —  boys  and  men,  or  those  who 
ought  to  have  been  men  —  knew  no  more  coveted  distinction  than  that  of  a 
"killer"  or  a  "  Moyamensing  Ranger."  While  Baltimoreans  were  prouder 
of  the  titles  of  "  plug  uglies,"  "blood-tubs"  and  "roughs"  under  half  a 
dozen  other  distinctive  names  than  they  were  of  being  good  citizens  or  skil- 
ful mechanics. 

He  claims  that  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  tended 
greatly  to  the  overthrow  of  all  these  brutalisms,  and  that  they 
rapidly  came  up  from  the  depths,  and  contributed  such  ex- 


THE  MECHANICS'  BELL. 


345 


amples  and  instructions  to  their  provincial  brethren  all  over 
the  country  as  would  develop  their  ambitions,  energy,  and 
determination  not  to  be  left  behind  in  the  mechanical  reform 
race. 

He  concludes :  — 

The  constantly  accumulating  power  of  multiplied  trades-unions  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  the  great  eight-hour  Magna  Charta 
of  emancipation  for  the  American  people  from  excessive  labor  are  now  be- 
coming everywhere  popular.  Our  march  is  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  solid 
phalanx  towards  a  common  goal,  that  thirty  years  ago  was  beyond  the  orbit 
of  Mars  to  the  operative  mechanics  and  workingmen  of  this  country. 

THE  MECHANICS'  BELL. 

The  story  of  the  "  Mechanics'  Bell "  is  the  story  of  the  first 
victory  won  on  this  continent  for  less  hours  of  toil.  As  the 
"  Liberty  Bell "  rang  out  the  proclamation  of  liberty  from 
monarchical  control,  so  the  "  Mechanics'  Bell  "  proclaimed  the 
liberty  of  leisure  for  the  sons  of  toil. 

The  old  "Mechanics' Bell"  hangs  in  its  skeleton  tower  at 
the  East  River,  foot  of  Fourth  street,  New  York,  directly 
opposite  the  spot  where  once  "Skinny"  Beadle's  cottage 
stood.  Beadle  wras  a  watchman  for  Smith  &  Dimon,  ship- 
builders, whose  yard,  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  was  on  the 
territory  where  now  stands  the  tower  of  the  old  bell.  Old 
"Skinny"  died  during  the  campaign  of  "Buck,  and  Breck." 
in  1856.  For  a  long  time  his  old  cottage  was  untenanted, 
and  was  said  to  be  haunted.  Men  could  be  found  who  were 
positive  they  saw  old  "  Skinny  "  long  after  he  was  buried. 

The  original  "  Mechanics'  Bell "  was  erected  in  1831.  It 
first  stood  in  a  coal-yard,  and  afterward  found  a  resting-place 
in  Bishop  &  Simonson's  yard.  Its  first  ringer  was  a  man 
named  McCoy,  who  died  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  When  the  bell  was  first  erected,  there  were  no  regular 
hours  of  labor,  and  the  mechanics  worked  from  sun  to  sun. 
It  was  no  unusual  sight  to  see  men  working  in  the  ship  yards 
and  along  the  wharves  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  For 
the  ship  yard  men,  life  was  simply  work  and  sleep,  recrea- 
tion being  almost  lost  sight  of.  Many  efforts  were  made  to 
change  this  state  of  things,  and  strikes  were  resorted  to  after 


346  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

arbitration  had  failed.  At  first  the  strikes  were  for  regulating 
the  hours  of  eating,  sleeping,  and  working,  and  they  were 
resisted  by  the  bosses,  who  would  not  listen  to  this  new  idea. 
The  strikes  broke  out  periodically.  At  length  the  bosses 
divided  on  this  question,  and  an:  unkindly  feeling  sprang  up 
between  a  majority  of  them  on  one  side,  and  the  remainder 
and  the  mechanics  on  the  other.  After  a  bitter  struggle,  the 
mechanics  carried  their  point.  They  then  demanded  ten 
hours  a  day,  without  naming  the  particular  hours.  Against 
this  the  bosses  struck,  but  gave  in  after  a  short  struggle. 

The  mechanics,  proud  of  their  victory,  determined  to  have 
a  new  bell,  to  be  known  as  the  "Ten-hour  Bell."  They  took 
the  old  bell,  which  was  small,  and  had  it  recast  into  the  new 
one,  dropping  gold,  silver  and  copper  coins  into  the  furnace. 
The  new  bell  was  raised  with  appropriate  honors  in  1844, 
and  "Old  Baxter,"  a  veteran  of  1812,  was  appointed  bell- 
ringer.  The  bell  was  now  placed  on  a  new  skeleton  tower  <5n 
the  top  of  a  blacksmith's  shop  in  Webb's  shipyard,  on  Lewis 
street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  streets.  On  one  of  the  cross- 
pieces  of  the  tower  was  placed  a  golden  sign,  with  the  words, 
"Mechanics'  Bell." 

The  first  ten-hour  day  was  from  6  A.  M.  to  8  A.  M.,  when 
an  hour  was  given  for  lunch.  The  bell  rang  again  five  min- 
utes before  nine,  and  rang  five  minutes  while  the  men  pro- 
ceeded to  work.  It  rang  again  at  noon,  when  an  hour  was 
given  for  dinner;  at  I,  when  the  men  returned  to  work,  and 
again  at  6,  when  the  day's  work  ended.  The  bell,  at  five 
minutes  of  9,  also  served  as  a  school-bell  for  the  old  Fifth- 
street  School.  After  about  ten  years  of  this  arrangement, 
the  ten-hour  day  was  regulated  as  at  present.  Matters  thus 
continued  until  the  eight-hour  strike,  during  the  war.  The 
mechanics  who  then  owned  the  bell  ordered  that  it  should  be 
rung  at  8  A.  M.,  12  M.,  and  i  and  5  p.  M.  ;  and  it  continued 
thus  to  ring  during  that  strike.  After  the  failure  of  the  strike, 
the  bell  was  rung  as  previously.  For  many  years,  however, 
on  Saturdays  the  bell  has  rung  at  4  p.  M.,  instead  of  6,  work 
then  stopping.  On  Monday,  May  17,  1886,  the  bell  began 
to  ring  at  7,  12,  i  and  5,  making  only  nine  hours  a  day,  and 


THE    BELL    REMOVED. 


347 


the  ship-joiners  of  the  Eleventh  Ward  are  now  working 
under  that  system. 

Webb's  shipyard,  where  the  "  Mechanics'  Bell "  stood, 
changed  hands,  and  the  decay  of  ship-building,  the  last  ship 
having  been  built  in  New  York  during  the  eight-hour  strike, 
having  driven  the  mechanics  away  from  their  old  stamping- 
ground,  an  effort  was  made  by  Webb's  successors  to  seize  the 
bell.  Their  excuse  was  the  damage  to  them  by  having  boys 
throw  stones  at  it.  The  old  bell  had  not  rung  for  a  long  time, 
and  they  thought  no  one  would  bother  their  heads  about  it. 
They  intended  to  sell  the  old  bell  to  pay  for  damages.  But 
one  day  William  Douglas,  a  veteran  shipwright  and  president 
of  the  Shipwrights'  Association  during  the  eight-hour  strike, 
made  his  appearance  at  the  old  bell-tower,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  neighbors,  proceeded  to  take  down  the  bell.  The 
news  spread  like  wildfire,  and  an  excited  crowd  soon  gathered, 
demanding  the  reason  of  this  action.  Douglas  explained  ;  and, 
instead  of  being  mobbed,  he  was  loudly  applauded.  By  adroit 
talk,  Douglas  secured  the  confidence  of  the  owners  of  the  yard, 
and  when  the  bell  was  down  a  cart  was  handy,  on  which  the 
old  bell  disappeared.  For  a  long  time  its  whereabouts  were 
unknown,  except  to  a  few  devoted  men  sworn  to  secrecy.  At 
length,  it  was  determined  to  raise  it  again.  The  old  stock 
wished  it  replaced  in  the  Eleventh  Ward,  the  shipyard  dis- 
trict, while  others  wished  it  taken  to  Greenpoint,  on  the 
ground  that  the  bell  should  follow  the  ship-building  business, 
which  had  left  New  York  City.  At  an  exciting  meeting  the 
New  Yorkers  won.  A  new  tower  was  erected,  and  the  old 
bell  was  raised,  amid  the  most  intense  enthusiasm,  where  it 
now  stands,  at  the  foot  of  Fourth  street,  East  River.  There 
it  remained  until  October,  1880,  when  it  cracked  and  ceased 
ringing. 

It  was  recast  about  a  month  later,  and  was  again  hung  on 
the  day  of  President  Garfield's  election,  and  has  never  ceased 
ringing  regularly  since. 

It  now  rings  four  times  a  day ;  ringing  at  7  A.  M.  for  the 
men  to  go  to  work,  again  at  12  M.  for  dinner,  at  i  P.  M.  for 
the  return  to  work,  and  at  5  P.M.  to  finish,  —  thus  making 


348  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

a  nine-hour  day.  It  has  rung  under  this  system  only  a  few 
months,  an  agreement  between  the  mechanics  and  the  "bosses" 
having  brought  this  about. 


The  ten-hour  system  did  not  extend  outside  of  the  "  old 
workers  "  of  Boston  for  several  years.  It  was  first  adopted 
on  new  work  in  the  shipyards  of  Medford,  Mass.,  —  at  that 
time  the  chief  ship-building  centre  of  the  New  England 
States,  —  in  1840,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  statement 
of  Mr.  John  Stetson,  an  old  ship-carpenter,  now  living  in 

that  town  :  — 

MEDFORD,  MASS.,  July  19,  1886. 

*  *  *  *  Early  in  the  spring  of  1840,  namely,  April  i4th,  the  day  of  my 
marriage,  I,  with  fc  gang  of  six  other  men,  under  a  written  contract  made  by 
me,  commenced  a  job  of  ceiling  and  putting  in  lower  deck  of  a  ship  in  the 
yard  of  Jotham  Stetson,  in  Medford.  The  men  engaged  with  me  were  Benja- 
min H.  Sampson,  Luther  Turner,  Amos  Hutchings  and  others.  Before  com- 
mencing the  job,  we  took  a  vote  to  do  it  on  the  ten-hour  plan.  This  was  the 
first  work  done,  I  believe,  on  this  system  in  private  yards,  although  it  had 
been  to  some  extent  adopted  in  government  yards. 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Hutchings  had  made  a  contract  for  the  same  gang  to 
plank  a  ship  for  Mr.  James  O.  Curtis.  Mr.  Curtis'  opposition  to  the  plan  was 
so  great  that  he  would  not  allow  the  work  to  be  done  by  us. 

Mr.  Stetson  was  extremely  indignant,  and  opposed  us  bitterly ;  but  was 
obliged  to  submit,  as  we  had  a  written  contract  with  him.  He  contented  him- 
self with  announcing  that  in  future  he  should  reserve  the  right  of  employing 
men  who  would  do  as  he  wished.  I  told  him  he  always  had  had  that  privi- 
lege, as  I  had  the  right  of  working  for  whom  I  chose. 

Public  sentiment,  as  well  as  the  ship-builders,  was  strongly  opposed  to  the 
ten-hour  plan.  The  builders  sent  to  other  places  for  men,  who,  on  arriving 
and  learning  the  state  of  affairs,  refused  to  go  to  work  on  the  old  plan.  Sev- 
eral public  meetings  were  held  in  the  town  hall. 

However,  we  did  that  job  on  the  new  time-table,  and  I  never  did  a  day's 
work  on  the  old  plan  after  that.  Mr.  Curtis'  opposition  was  such  that  the 
gang  all  but  myself  went  to  Haverhill,  where  they  built  a  ship  on  ten-hours' 
time,  and  thence  they  went  to  Newburyport  to  plank  a  ship,  —  the  first  ten-hour 
work  done  there,  as  I  believe. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  movement,  business  was  very  dull ;  but  soon  after 
all  the  builders  made  contracts  to  build,  and  business  reviving,  all  fell  into 
line,  and  the  system  was  established.  Yours  truly, 

JOHN  STETSOX. 

This  coincides  with  the  experience  in  Bath,  Me.,  as  given 
to  us  by  Mr.  Henry  T.  Delano,  an  old  ship-carpenter,  now 
living,  who  introduced  the  ten-hour  system  in  that  city,  in 


THE    EIGHT-HOUR    AGITATION.  349 

1847,  as  related  in  the  chapter  on,the  "  History  of  the  Move- 
ment," page  96. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  proclamation  of  President  Van 
Buren,  establishing  the  ten-hour  system  in  all  public  establish- 
ments, was  issued  on  April  10,  1840. 

The  ship-carpenters  and  calkers  continued  their  organiza- 
tion, and  the  workers  on  old  work  soon  commenced  the 
agitation  for  the  eight-hour  day,  gaining  it  in  1849  >  and  the 
agitation  for  shorter  time  continued  among  the  other  building 
trades,  notably  the  stone-workers,  who  probably  were  second 
only  to  the  ship-workers  in  their  movement  in  this  direction. 
Strikes  occurred  for  less  hours  of  work  on  Saturday,  for  ad- 
vances in  wages,  and  against  proposed  reductions.  Great 
carelessness  existed  then,  as  now,  in  the  preservation  of  the 
records  of  the  labor  associations,  and  little  is  known  of  their 
individual  efforts.  It  was  not  until  the  national  and  interna- 
tional organizations  came  into  existence  that  much  informa- 
tion could  be  obtained  ;  and,  even  in  the  case  of  many  of  these, 
the  records  have  been  lost  by  the  secretaries,  especially  where 
an  organization  has  disappeared  for  a  time,  to  be  revived  and 
controlled  by  new  men. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  revived  the  ship-build- 
ing trades,  and  many  of  the  ship-workers  themselves  were 
among  the  emigrants  to  California.  They  proceeded  to  or- 
ganize as  soon  as  work  in  their  craft  demanded.  Isolated 
unions  of  house-carpenters,  painters,  roofers,  bricklayers, 
stone-masons  and  stone-workers  generally,  existed. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  there  was  an  extensive  simultaneous 
movement  in  the  building  trades,  the  principal  demand  being 
for  an  increase  of  wages.  The  Boston  ship-joiners  on  repairs 
made  an  unsuccessful  strike  for  eight  hours,  which  they  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  the  next  year.  The  movement  for  an 
advance  of  wages  was  especially  strong  in  Philadelphia,  and 
many  strikes  occurred.  A  Philadelphia  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  in  1853,  confessed  that  an  advance 
of  wages  was  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  enable  the 
workingmen  to  support  their  familes  under  the  burdensome 
prices. 


350  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

House-carpenters,  shoemakers  and  riggers  held  meetings 
and  adopted  resolutions  expressing  a  determination  to  obtain 
an  advance.  The  metal-workers  of  New  York  City  and 
Brooklyn  held  a  meeting  in  April  of  that  year,  and  organ- 
ized by  the  selection  of  Mr.  A.  B.  Smith  as  chairman,  and 
Mr.  William  Caldwell  as  secretary.  They  voted  to  demand  an 
increase  in  wages,  their  present  rates  being  from  ten  to  twelve 
shillings  a  day,  and  they  concluded  to  demand  two  dollars. 
The  ship-joiners  resolved  to  demand  $2.50  per  day. 

During  the  summer  months,  the  journeymen  house-carpen- 
ters of  Boston  held  a  meeting  for  the  organization  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  Carpenters'  Association.  They  voted  to  adopt 
a  ten-hour  system,  and  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of  those 
persons  whose  employers  should  not  accede  to  their  de- 
mands. 

A  Board  of  Trade  report  of  about  1853  says,  that  in  Boston 
there  was  a  scarcity  of  men ;  that  there  was  much  repairing 
going  on,  and  not  more  than  half  the  number  of  men  to  be 
obtained  that  might  work  conveniently  on  vessels. 

The  report  of  the  second  commission  on  the  hours  of  labor, 
Massachusetts  House  Document  44,  1867,  says  :  — 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  former  condition  of  the  workmen  in  this 
business  know  that  it  is  much  elevated  in  consequence  of  a  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  and  associated  effort  in  trades-unions.  They  are  remembered 
as  working  in  1835  thirteen  or  fourteen  hours  a  day  for  $1.50  per  diem.  They 
lived,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  city  near  their  work.  The  younger  portion 
lormed'  the  nucleus  of  the  Fort  Hill  rowdyism.  It  was  a  period  when,  in 
connection  with  fire  department,  they  kept  the  city  in  constant  alarm.  From 
1853  to  the  present  time,  the  same  class  of  labor,  and  some  of  the  same  in- 
dividuals, are  found  in  possession,  as  we  have  shown,  of  the  eight-hour  day, 
—  the  president  of  the  association  stating  that  at  least  one-third  of  them  are 
owners  of  property. 

In  1856,  the  ship-carpenters  of  California  had  organized 
and  moved,  with  other  trades,  for  the  eight-hour  day ;  for  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  eight-hour  system  was  gained 
only  for  workers  on  old  work.  Continued  efforts  were  made 
to  secure  the  same  privileges  for  new  work  among  the  house- 
carpenters  and  other  building  trades,  but  little  was  gained. 
Constant  demands  were  made,  and  in  1866  the  ship-carpenters 


GREAT    PUBLIC    MEETING.  351 

employed  in  the  various  yards  in  Greenpoint,  L.  I.,  went  on 
strike  for  the  eight-hour  system. 

This  movement  extended  to  other  trades,  and  on  April  5th 
a  mass-meeting  of  the  workingmen  of  New  York,  Jersey 
City  and  Brooklyn  in  favor  of  the  eight-hour  system  was  held 
in  Union  Square.  Four  stands  were  erected  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Maison  Doree ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  mildness  of  the 
evening,  as  well  as  the  interest  taken  in  the  subject,  the  attend- 
ance was  very  large.  About  eight  o'clock  delegations  from 
the  different  trades-unions,  with  banners,  music,  torch-lights, 
and  transparencies  marched  into  Union  Square,  and  took  up 
their  positions  around  the  several  stands.  Mr.  John  Reed, 
the  president  of  the  Workingmen's  Union,  was  chosen  chair- 
man, and  H.  A.  Whitfield  secretary. 

Mr.  Reed  made  a  very  able  speech,  in  which  he  referred  to 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  aware  of  their  strength  physically 
and  politically,  or  of  how  it  might  be  effectually  used.  He 
said:  "It  is  our  glory  and  boast  that  we  have  reached  a 
higher  standard.  We  can  afford  to  put  this  question  on  the 
very  highest  grounds."  He  said  that  the  system  of  co- 
operation, or  self-help,  was  the  great  and  only  solution  of 
the  labor  problem,  but  that  it  was  not  available  at  present: 
that  the  great  mass  must  get  along  on  the  old  wage-system 
for  some  time  to  come.  A  series  of  resolutions  were  adopted, 
regretting  the  defeat  of  the  Eight-hour  Bill  in  the  Assembly, 
and  asking  the  adoption  of  the  ordinance  by  the  common 
council  of  the  city. 

Horace  Greeley  was  introduced,  and  was  received  with  tre- 
mendous cheering.  He  said  it  appeared  to  him  a  desirable, 
natural  and  proper  arrangement,  that  they  should  have  one- 
third  of  their  time  for  sleep,  one-third  for  labor,  and  one-third 
for  all  other  employments  ;  it  seemed  to  him  a  beneficial  re- 
sult, at  which  they  should  all  aim,  and  to  which  he  believed 
and  trusted  they  would  ultimately  come.  He  said  :  — 

The  fault  of  this  age  is  that  workers,  whether  with  hand  or  brain,  labor  too 
hard  and  too  long.  We  have  too  many  idlers,  and  too  many  who  do  a  great 
deal  more  than  one  man's  part.  In  this  city  we  employ  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  persons,  who  add  nothing  to  the  wealth  of  the  world;  they  are  mere 
distributors. 


352  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

He  had  but  little  faith  in  legislation  for  reducing  the  hours 
of  labor,  but  he  was  willing  to  see  the  experiment  tried.  He 
thought  labor  should  take  a  little  more  responsibility  upon 
itself.  Addresses  were  made  at  the  other  stands  by  promi- 
nent labor  men. 

On  April  i7th,  the  ship-joiners  of  New  York  and  vicinity 
held  a  mass-meeting,  and  adopted,  among  others,  the  follow- 
ing resolution  :  — 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  ship-joiners  of  New  York  and  vicinity,  in  mass- 
meeting  assembled,  do  hereby  announce  through  the  city  press  that  we  boldly 
sustain  and  heartily  co-operate  with  the  following  trades  in  the  movement  to 
reduce  the  hours  of  labor:  New  York  caulkers,  ship-wrights,  riggers,  house- 
carpenters,  and  ship-painters. 

The  master-shipwrights  and  caulkers  of  New  York  pub- 
lished an  article  against  the  movement,  which  aroused  the 
indignation  of  the  men,  who  claimed  that  the  names  sub- 
scribed to  the  article  represented  only  one-fifth  of  the  capital 
invested.  The  ship-workers  proposed  to  do  the  work  them- 
selves, without  the  aid  of  the  master  ship-wrights,  agreeing  to  do 
it  as  quickly  and  as  perfectly,  at  less  cost.  They  also  published 
a  card,  correcting  various  statements  made  by  the  master 
ship-wrights  in  their  article,  in  which  they  solicited  work. 

The  New  York  Tribune,  of  May  loth,  reports  a  meeting 
of  the  ship-carpenters  and  joiners  on  the  preceding  evening 
to  take  action  in  reference  to  a  strike,  which  had  then  been 
continued  six  weeks.  The  movement  was  controlled  by  the 
Workingmen's  Union,  which  consisted  of  the  various  trades 
of  the  city. 

The  Tribune  said  :  — 

There  are  nearly  ten  thousand  mechanics  now  out  of  employment  by  reason 
of  the  strike,  whose  united  earnings  would  have  amounted  to  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  week. 

At  the  meeting,  the  president  denounced  the  manner  in 
which  the  press  had  spoken  of  the  strike. 

On  May  i5th,  the  New  York  papers  announced  the  failure 
of  the  strike.  The  World,  referring  to  the  matter,  said  :  — 


THE    LOCKOUT.  353 

He  is  not  a  friend  of  American  workmen  who  does  not  tell  them  plainly 
why,  in  the  struggle  which  they  have  sought,  justice  is  not  on  their  side.  As 
for  legislating  eight  hours  to  be  a  day's  work,  it  is  contrary  to  the  true  inter- 
ests of  the  workingmen  that  government  —  city,  State  or -federal  —  should 
meddle  with  the  matter  at  all.  No  number  of  hours  can  hereafter,  any  more 
than  now,  be  the  measure  of  a  day's  work  in  the  various  industries  of  differ- 
ent men. 

i 

The  Tribune,  while  agreeing  with  the  World  in  respect  to 
legislation,  said:  — 

But  the  World  fails  to  take  into  account  the  counteracting  influences,  the 
continual  progress  and  important  results  of  labor-saving  inventions,  of  rail- 
roads and  canals.  Between  1850  and  1860  the  population  of  this  country  in- 
creased but  little  over  thirty  per  cent.,  while  the  increase  of  our  natural  wealth 
was  over  one  hundred  per  cent,  and  that  of  our  efficiency  as  producers  of 
wealth  was  fully  as  great,  so  that  it  by  no  means  follows  that  we  must  work 
harder  for  a  given  result  in  1870  than  we  did  in  1860. 

A  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  of  the  workingmen  of 
Boston  was  held  in  that  city,  on  July  2,  of  the  same  year,  to 
hear  a  true  statement  of  the  calkers'  lockout,  and  to  tender 
aid.  Colonel  C.  E.  Rowell  presided.  A  speech  was  made 
by  Mr.  C.  E.  Turner,  president  of  the  Boston  Calkers'  Asso- 
ciation. He  stated  that  this  was  not  a  strike,  but  a  lockout, 
and  that  the  lockout  was  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  ship- 
calkers  of  Boston  would  not  work  on  ships  forwarded  from 
New  York.  He  said  :  — 

We  were  obliged  to  assist  our  fellow-craftsmen.  We  have  worked  for  fifteen 
years  on  the  eight-hour  system,  and  want  not  only  to  continue  it,  but  to  help 
others  to  it. 

It  seems  that  a  vessel,  which  was  chartered  in  New  York, 
was  forwarded  to  Boston  for  repairs,  and  the  men  refused  to 
work,  unless  New  York  calkers  could  come  and  assist  on  the 
work  on  the  eight-hour  system. 

It  was  these  strikes  and  lockouts  and  the  previous  agitation 
which  led  to  the  eight-hour  law  being  passed  in  1868,  which 
was  inaugurated  in  the  navy-yards,  shortly  after  the  Fourth  of 
July,  of  that  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1869,  workmen  in  the  yards  received  offi- 
cial notice  that  their  pay  would  be  reduced  one-fifth.  Oppor- 
tunity was  afforded  them  to  labor  ten  hours  at  the  usual  rate 


354 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


of  wages.  The  government  was  desirous  of  increasing  its 
force  at  the  time,  but  found  it  impossible  to  obtain  men  who 
would  comply  with  the  terms  imposed,  and  many  of  the 
employees  withdrew.  This  led  to  the  proclamation  of  Gen- 
eral Grant,  as  published  in  Chapter  V.  From  this  time  the 
depression  in  the  ship-building  industry  has  seriously  affected 
the  men,  and  very  little  has  been  attempted  in  the  direction  of 
organization. 

In  Philadelphia,  they  were  the  first  to  organize  under  the 
Knights  of  Labor  after  its  formation  by  the  garment-cutters. 
Strikes  have  occurred  in  the  ship-building  centres  during  this 
time, — some  of  them  for  higher  wages,  some  against  reduc- 
tion, and  some  for  less  hours  of  labor. 

The  craft  has  lost  its  prominence  in  the  labor  movement, 
probably  to  revive  with  power  on  the  revival  of  their  industry. 

AMALGAMATED    SOCIETY    OF    CARPENTERS    AND  JOINERS. 

This  organization  was  founded  in  England,  in  June,  1860, 
but  there  are  several  branches  in  the  United  States.  Candi- 
dates for  admission  must  be  in  good  health,  have  worked  at 
the  trade  five  years,  be  good  workmen,  of  steady  habits  and 
good  moral  character,  and  not  less  than  20  nor  more  than  45 
years  of  age.  The  scale  of  entrance-fees  varies  from  7  shil- 
lings and  6  pence  at  25  to  i  pound  and  15  shillings  at  45.  In 
1860,  it  had  618  members  and  £321  assets  ;  but  at  the  end  of 
1885  it  had  25,781  members  and  £50,850  assets.  Its  aver- 
age annual  membership  was  12,180.  The  total  amount  of 
benefits  paid  out  per  member  for  26  years  was  £46  IDS. 

It  appears  that  on  the  3ist  of  January,  for  the  last  eleven 
years,  the  number  per  one  thousand  members  unemployed 
was  as  follows:  1876,  16;  1877,  26;  1878,  42;  1879,  I^7  5 
1880, 181  ;  1881,  191 ;  1882,  68;  1883,  81  ;  1884,  77  5  1885, 
108  ;  1886,  180.  The  most  severe  season  was  1879,  when 
the  cost  for  unemployed  benefit  per  member  was  £i  125.  9^. 
per  member ;  and  1885  came  next,  with  £i  75. 3^.  The  de- 
pression of  1879  came  after  several  years  of  fairly  good  trade  ; 
but  that  of  1885  came  after  losses  in  preceding  years,  and  was 
most  severely  felt.  The  annual  report  for  1886  says  :  — 


CARPENTERS    AND  JOINERS.  355 

During  the  year  we  have  only  made  one  serious  resistance  to  a  reduction  of 
•wages,  viz.  :  at  Sunderland,  and  in  this  case  the  men  fortunately  sustained 
their  point.  The  struggle,  however,  was  so  prolonged  and  costly  that  both 
sides  agreed  and  have  succeeded  in  forming  a  Board  of  Conciliation  and 
Arbitration,  to  which  all  future  disputes  shall  be  referred. 

The  branches  are  now  distributed  as  follows :  England, 
338;  Ireland,  20;  Scotland,  15;  United  States,  25;  Can- 
ada^; New  Zealand,  10;  Australia,  22;  South  Africa,  4; 
total,  440.  There  is  kept  in  the  treasury  a  balance  equal, 
at  least,  to  two  pounds  per  member.  The  society  publishes 
an  annual  report, — that  for  1886  making  366  pages,  —  which 
is  mostly  filled  with  statistical  information  as  to  the  state  of 
the  order,  as  a  whole,  and  of  the  branches  in  oarticular. 

THE    BROTHERHOOD    OF    CARPENTERS    AND   JOINERS. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  was  organized 
at  a  Convention  of  Carpenters'  Unions  held  in  Chicago,  111., 
August  8,  1881.  Prior  to  this  organization,  many  local  unions 
had  existed,  and  efforts  had  been  continually  made  for  the 
formation  of  a  national  organization.  The  first  attempt  was 
made  in  1854,  anc^  tne  second  in  1867.  The  preamble  to 
the  constitution  sets  forth  the  objects  to  be 

To  rescue  our  trade  from  the  low  level  to  which  it  has  fallen,  and,  by  mutual 
effort  to  raise  ourselves  to  that  position  in  society  to  which  we  are  justly  enti- 
tled; to  cultivate  a  feeling  of  friendship  among  the  craft;  and  to  elevate  the 
moral,  intellectual  and  social  condition  of  all  journeymen  carpenters.  It  is 
furthermore  our  object  to  assist  each  other  to  secure  employment;  to  furnish 
aid  in  cases  of  death  or  permanent  disability,  and  for  mutual  relief,  and  other 
benevolent  purposes. 

The  officers  consist  of  a  general  president,  eight  vice- 
presidents,  a  general  secretary,  treasurer,  and  an  executive 
board.  The  executive  board  is  composed  of  five  members, 
elected  from  the  union  or  unions  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles 
of  the  city  selected  as  headquarters.  This  board  has  power 
to  decide  all  points  of  law,  settle  all  grievances,  and  to  author- 
ize strikes  in  conformity  with  the  constitution. 

The  constitution  provides  that  whenever  a  dispute  arises 
between  an  employer  or  employers  and  members  of  the 


356  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Brotherhood,  the  members  shall  lay  the  matter  before  the 
local  union,  which  shall  appoint  an  arbitration  committee  to 
adjust  the  matter ;  then,  if  the  members  of  the  committee 
cannot  settle  the  dispute,  the  matter  shall  be  referred  to  the 
union.  If  a  two-thirds  vote  of  secret  ballot  shall  decide  that 
the  members  shall  be  sustained,  then  they  shall  be  authorized 
to  strike ;  which  strike  shall  take  effect  immediately  when- 
ever the  demand  is  refused  by  the  employers  the  following 
day. 

The  organization  provides  a  funeral-benefit  of  $250  if  a 
member  dies,  and  $50  in  case  of  the  death  of  the  wife  of  a 
member.  It  also  provides  a  disability  benefit.  Any  mem- 
ber .in  good  standing,  who  becomes  permanently  disabled  by 
accidental  injuries  received  at  his  work,  which  incapacitates 
him  from  again  following  the  trade,  shall  be  entitled  to  $100  for 
a  six  months'  membership,  and  $200  dollars  for  a  two  years' 
membership.  The  majority  of  the  local  unions  have  weekly 
sick-benefits,  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $3.50  per  week. 

The  organization  favors  the  establishment  of  building 
leagues ;  is  opposed  to  piece-work  and  convict  labor,  and 
desires  uniform  lien  laws  throughout  the  United  States  and 
Canada. 

The  First  Convention  of  the  Brotherhood  after  the  organiza- 
tion was  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  1882.  The  Second  Conven- 
tion was  held  in  New  York,  in  1884.  The  Convention  of 
1883  was  postponed,  in  order  to  place  the  unions  on  a  better 
foundation,  giving  them  more  opportunity  to  ascertain  the 
actual  requirements  of  the  organization,  and  become  more 
familiar  with  the  constitution. 

The  struggle  during  the  first  year  or  two  of  the  organiza- 
tion, as  of  all  other  workingmen's  societies,  was  a  difficult 
one ;  but  at  this  convention  the  general  secretary  was  able  to 
report  that  the  association  was  out  of  debt,  and  that  a  surplus 
of  funds  was  on  hand.  During  the  preceding  year,  twenty- 
one  new  unions  had  been  formed,  —  an  increase  of  i  ,866  mem- 
bers in  good  standing.  The  secretary  reported  that  strikes 
had  occurred  in  Chicago  and  New  Orleans,  and  had  succeeded 
in  fixing  the  standard  rate  of  wages  at  three  dollars  per  day* 


DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES.  357 

The  strike  lasted  three  weeks,  and  resulted  in  partial  success. 
A  strike  occurred  in  Canada  for  nine  hours  per  day,  lasting 
two  months  and  a  half;  but,  owing  to  the  influx  of  immigra- 
tion, a  compromise  was  made  upon  eight  hours  as  a  day's 
work  on  Saturday.  The  secretary  says  :  — 

The  successful  movements  for  nine  hours  in  the  spring  of  1885  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  in  San  Francisco,  San  Rafael,  Oakland,  and  Alameda,  has  had 
a  salutary  effect  in  those  localities,  and  it  is  due  to  the  example  of  our  Brother- 
hood that  other  trades  are  falling  into  the  same  line  all  over- the  country.  A 
reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  on  Saturday  in  St.  Catharines  and  Hartford, 
and  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  has  been  accomplished,  an  agitation  has  been 
created,  out  of  which  has  grown  a  strong  central  organization  of  various 
trades  in  Philadelphia,  known  as  the  Short-Hour  League.  The  usual  custom 
of  reducing  the  wages  in  winter  and  payment  by  the  hour  has  ceased  to  be 
the  rule  where  the  union  has  any  power.  The  rates  of  wages  have  become 
firmer,  and  all  men  less  exposed  to  reduction  of  wages ;  and  on  organization 
they  have  been  able  to  save  themselves  from  any  imposition. 

He  favors  the  forming  of  trades-assemblies  central  coun- 
cils, and  calls  upon  the  members  to  secure  a  close  co-opera- 
tion of  the  bricklayers,  plasterers,  and  laborers  of  each  city, 
and  refers  to  the  fraternal  feelings  existing  between  the 
organizations  and  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  several  cities. 
At  this  convention,  a  Declaration  of  Principles  was  adopted, 
containing  these  salient  points  :  That  as  the  average  laboring 
man  expends  his  entire  earnings  immediately,  every  dollar 
added  to  his  wages  adds  to  every  market  he  patronizes ;  and, 
therefore,  that  every  reduction  of  wages  immediately  cripples 
all  markets  ;  that  a  reduction  of  hours  of  days'  work  increases 
the  opportunities  and  intelligence  of  the  laborer,  as  well  as 
increases  the  demand  for  labor  in  price  for  a  day's  work ; 
that  it  is  ruinous  to  reduce  domestic  wages  to  enable  our 
country  to  compete  with  foreign  markets  ;  that  as  the  laboring 
classes  are  united  all  over  the  world,  and  regard  it  as  nation- 
ally as  well  as  morally  due  of  all  for  the  interest  of  all  to  stop 
this  ruinous  competition  of  wages  ;  that  all  protected  produc- 
tions are  protected  at  the  expense  of  citizens,  and  that  such 
industries  have  no  moral  right,  and  should  have  no  legal 
right,  to  employ  foreign  labor,  or  persons  who  send  or  carry 
their  earnings  out  of  the  country ;  that  all  aliens  shall  be 


358  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

employed  by  self-sustaining  industries,  and  not  by  those 
receiving  support  by  tax  upon  the  citizens ;  that  protected 
industries  should  have  no  legal  right  to  reduce,  or  aid  in 
reducing,  wages  from  any  standard.  They  object  to  prison- 
contract  labor,  because  it  puts  the  criminal  in  competition 
with  honorable  labor.  They  hold  that  voting  is  better  than 
striking,  but  that  both  are  right  and  necessary,  and  that  no 
wage-worker  should  vote  for  any  man  or  any  party  that  does 
not  directly  support  the  labor  cause  by  thought  or  argument 
and  action  ;  nor  should  any  wage-worker  vote  for  any  man 
or  party  who  has,  does,  or  will  oppose  any  man  opposed  to 
the  party. 

The  next  biennial  convention  was  held  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
August  3d,  and  continued  four  days.  The  general  secre- 
tary, in  his  report,  congratulates  the  members  upon  the  great 
growth  of  the  organization.  One  hundred  and  forty-eight 
new  unions  had  been  formed,  and'  six  unions  reorganized. 
The  general  secretary,  in  his  report,  says :  — 

This  convention  marks  the  entrance  into  the  sixth  year  of  our  history  as 
an  organization;  and  in  that  time  a  work  has  been  accomplished  that,  when 
we  contemplate  its  magnitude,  our  hearts  swell  with  a  modest  and  exultant 
pride  in  the  results  achieved. 

As  the  humble  founder  of  this  Brotherhood,  it  affords  me  the  immense 
pleasure  to  predict  that,  from  present  indications,  our  society,  before  many 
years,  will  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  trades  organizations  in  America,  and 
second  to  none  in  point  of  members  and  financial  standing.  For  that  object 
I  have  labored  and  struggled  for  many  a  long  and  weary  day;  and  I  take  this 
occasion  to  thank  the  delegates  here  assembled  for  their  presence,  and  the 
officers  and  members  of  the  local  unions,  for  their  faithful  aid  and  co-opera- 
tion in  this  noble  and  exalted  work. 

Referring  to  the  condition  of  trade,  he  said :  — 

The  past  year  has  not  been  as  brisk  for  carpenter-work  as  was  anticipated  in 
the  early  spring,  though  in  some  locations  it  has  been  fairly  good.  The  rail- 
road strikes  in  the  Southwest  had  a  very  depressing  effect  on  speculative  capi- 
tal, and  it  shrank  from  contemplated  investment  in  real  estate,  causing  quite  a 
depression  in  the  building  trades.  As  a  consequence,  the  movement  this 
spring  for  shorter  hours  among  the  workmen  in  the  building  trades  were 
thereby  much  embarrassed.  Trade  has  improved  considerably  of  late;  wages 
and  prices,  however,  are  by  no  meaps  commensurate  to  the  work,  while  in 
the  majority  of  cities  the  labor  market  is  constantly  overcrowded  with  car- 
penters. In  the  two  years  that  had  intervened  the  Association  had  increased 


FRIENDLY    RELATIONS. 


359 


its  membership  over  seventeen  thousand,  making  a  total  membership  of 
21,423.  The  financial  affairs  were  in  a  prosperous  condition.  He  reported  eight 
unions  working  eight  hours  per  day,  seventeen  working  nine  hours  per  day, 
and  twenty-one  working  shorter  hours  on  Saturday.  Seventeen  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  had  been  paid  in  benefits.  In  relation  to  the 
standing  of  the  Brotherhood  with  other  societies,  he  reports  that  the  Carpen- 
ters' Assembly,  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  refused  to  work  with 
members  of  the  Brotherhood,  and  struck  against  them. 


He  adds :  — 

I  wrote,  on  March  18,  1886,  to  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor,  proposing  a  mutual  interchange  of  cards  between  our  respective  organi- 
zations. To  .this  I  received  a  promise  that  the  subject  would  be  referred  to 
the  General  Executive  Board  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  but  up  to  date  nothing 
has  been  done  in  the  premises. 


He  refers  to  the  meeting  of  the  representatives  of  the  thirty- 
two  national  and  international  unions  to  bring  about  harmo- 
nious relations  between  the  unions  and  Knights  of  Labor. 
He  called  the  meeting  because,  as  he  says,  "I  discerned  a 
secret  and  formidable  movement  of  a  certain  element  within 
the  Knights  of  Labor  bent  upon  hostility  to  trades-unions,  and 
aiming  to  attack  them  singly,  and,  if  possible,  encompass  their 
destruction."  "Friendly  relations,"  he  said,  "are  maintained 
between  the  Brotherhood  of  this  country  and  the  carpen- 
ters' unions  of  Great  Britain,  Germany,  France  and  other 
European  countries. 

Referring  to  the  strikes  for  eight  hours  on  May  ist,  he 
says : — 

In  twenty-one  cities  our  local  unions  have  gained  twenty-five  cents  per 
day  advance  in  wages,  making  in  all  fifty-three  cities  where  our  local  unions 
have  made  gains  the  past  year,  either  in  more  wages  or  in  reducing  hours, 
while  only  in  nine  cities  have  our  local  unions  failed  to  secure  their  demands, 
and  in  these  cities  they  demanded  the  eight-hour  system  last  May.  A  resume" 
shows  that  2,486  of  our  members  are  working  eight  hours  per  day,  5,824  are 
on  nine  hours  per  day,  and  1,118  are  having  shorter  hours  on  Saturdays. 
This  makes  a  total  gain  to  these  members  of  65,894  hours  per  week,  adding 
to  the  gains  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  which  amount  to  6,540  hours  per  week, 
makes  a  sum  total  of  72,434  hours  per  week  gained  to  our  members  through 
organization.  It  now  remains  with  this  convention  to  take  wise  and  judicious 
steps,  whereby  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  may  be  more  universally 
established  in  the  trade. 


360  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT 

At  this  convention,  W.  J.  Shields,  of  Boston,  was  elected 
general  president,  and  P.  J.  McGuire  was  re-elected  general 
secretary. 

From  12  local  unions  in  1881,  the  Brotherhoood  has 
increased  to  214  local  unions,  at  the  present  writing,  and 
from  a  membership  of  2,042  it  has  grown  to  42,521  mem- 
bers,—  a  gain  of  18,481  members  the  past  two  years.  Its 
jurisdiction  stretches  from  Union  No.  83,  of  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  to  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles  and  British  Columbia, 
with  ii  local  unions  in  Canada,  and  more  than  a  score  of 
unions  in  the  Southern  States,  as  far  south  as  New  Orleans 
and  Galveston.  In  the  Southern  States  the  colored  men 
working  at  the  trade  have  taken  hold  of  the  organization 
with  avidity,  and  the  result  is,  the  Brotherhood  embraces 
14  unions  of  colored  carpenters  in  the  South. 

It  is  by  no  means  unusual  to  see  colored  delegates  in  attend- 
ance at  the  conventions  of  the  Brotherhood ;  for  the  organiza- 
zation  recognizes  no  distinction  on  account  of  color,  race, 
nationality,  religion,  or  politics,  —  its  members  recognizing 
each  other  only  as  American  workingmen.  Its  constitutions 
and  documents,  however,  are  translated  and  printed  in  the 
German,  French,  Bohemian  and  Scandavian  languages. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


MISCELLANEOUS    TRADES. 


TRADES  ORGANIZATIONS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT  —  THEIR  INFLUENCE  ON  THE 
LABOR  QUESTION  —  AXE-MAKERS'  UNIONS  —  PANIC,  1873  —  REDUCTION 
IN  WAGES  —  FORTY  PERCENT.  REDUCTION  IN  1880 — STRIKES  —  AXE- 
MAKERS  AFFILIATE  WITH  K.  OF  L.  — JOURNEYMEN  BAKERS'  NATIONAL 
UNION  —  NATIONALITY  OF  ITS  MEMBERS  —  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  BET- 
TER THEIR  CONDITION  —  EMPLOYERS  MAKE  CONCESSIONS  —  UNIONS 
FORMED  IN  ALL  LARGE  CITIES — BOILERMAKERS  AND  IRON  SHIPBUILDERS' 
FIRST  ORGANIZATION  —  BRANCHES  IN  U.  S.  AND  CANADA  —  OPPOSED 
TO  STRIKES  —  ST.  PAUL  STRIKE  —  UNION  VICTORIOUS  —  BRICKLAYERS 
AND  MASONS — AN  INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION — ANNUAL  CONVEN- 
TION—  DEMORALIZING  EFFECT  OF  PANIC,  1873 — UNION  BOTH  BENEVO- 
LENT AND  PROTECTIVE — BARBERS  ORGANIZE  A  PROTECTIVE  UNION  — 
DRUGGISTS'  WARE  AND  GLASSBLOWERS  ORGANIZE,  IN  1874  —  IMPROVED 
LEAGUE — MEN  IMPORTED  FROM  GERMANY  —  MANUFACTURERS  AT- 
TEMPT TO  BREAK  UP  THE  ORGANIZATION  —  FLOURISHING  CONDITION 
OF  THE  ORGANIZATION — AMALGAMATED  ENGINEERS  —  ITS  MEMBER- 
SHIP—  PAINTERS'  UNION  —  ORGANIZED,  1856  —  INTERNATIONAL  FURNI- 
TURE WORKERS'  UNION  —  ATTEMPTS  TO  ENFORCE  THE  EIGHT-HOUR 
LAW  —  GRANITE-CUTTERS  —  NATIONAL  UNION  ORGANIZED — DIS- 
CHARGES AND  LOCKOUTS  —  COMBINATION  OF  EMPLOYERS  TO  REDUCE 
WAGES  —  HORSE-RAILROAD  MEN — STRIKES  ON  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY 
HORSE-RAILROAD  LINES  —  NATIONAL  SILK  AND  FUR-HATTERS  —  NA- 
TIONAL ASSOCIATION  FORMED  —  NEW  YORK  STEREOTYPERS'  ASSO- 
CIATION —  JOURNEYMEN  TAILORS'  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  —  THE 
TELEGRAPHERS  —  THEIR  STRIKES  —  WOOD-CARVERS  —  WOOL-HAT 
FINISHERS. 


NEARLY  every  trade  and  occupation  has  had  in  the 
past,  as  most  of  them  have  in  the  present,  some  form 
of  a  trades  organization.  Each  one  of  these  crafts  or  callings 
has  its  own  peculiar  history.  As  a  rule,  these  organizations 
have  had  but  short  existence,  taking  new  forms  and  new 
names  and  adopting  new  methods,  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  demanded.  They  have  tended  very  much  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  labor  question.  One  by  one  they  join  some 

(360 


362  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

federation,  either  in  their  town  or  city,  under  the  name  of 
central  trades  and  labor  unions,  or  by  uniting  with  other 
unions,  and,  after  a  time,  form  a  national  organization  of 
their  trade.  Since  the  organization  of  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
trade  assemblies  have  been  organized,  and  some  unions  have 
received  charters  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Order  as 
Trade  Districts.  Notably  among  these  is  the  Miners'  Na- 
tional Assembly,  of  which  William  H.  Bailey,  a  member  of 
the  Executive  Board,  is  District  Master  Workman. 

In  this  chapter  we  give,  in  their  alphabetical  order,  a  brief 
abstract  of  the  history  of  some  of  the  labor  unions  not  in- 
cluded in  the  foregoing  chapters.  We  are  obliged  to  omit 
from  this  list  some  of  the  organizations  of  the  glass  industry  ; 
also  the  horse-shoers,  iron-moulders,  metal-workers,  piano- 
makers  and  plasterers.  The  glass-workers,  in  some  of  the 
branches,  have  had  organizations  in  this  country  as  far  back 
as  1848  or  1850. 

The  glass-blowers'  organizations  at  one  time  held  an  al- 
most complete  monopoly  of  the  skilled  craftsmen,  and  the 
price-lists  of  the  union  were  accepted  by  the  manufacturers 
without  question ;  and,  in  conversation  with  some  of  the 
manufacturers  years  ago,  we  found  them  favorable  to  the  or- 
ganization :  yet  the  glass-blowers  have  had  many  and  fierce 
struggles  as  an  organized  body  and  as  individual  craftsmen. 
In  New  Jersey,  the  truck  system  prevailed  to  a  great  extent ; 
and  it  was  the  custom  of  the  manufacturers  to  issue  a  "  cur- 
rency" of  their  own,  contrary  to  law.  The  organization  suc- 
ceeded finally  in  electing  one  of  their  prominent  members  to 
the  New  Jersey  legislature,  and  by  public  agitation  suc- 
ceeded, through  the  combined  efforts  of  the  State  Conven- 
tions of  the  unions,  in  securing  some  beneficial  legislation. 

The  window-glass  blowers,  having  a  charter  from  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  hold  a  complete  monopoly  of  their  craft. 
The  story  of  some  of  their  contests  to  gain  this  desired  end 
reveals  the  utmost  heroism  and  devotion  to  their  cause. 
Their  motto  is,  "  Never  surrender  !  "  and  since  they  have  come 
under  the  shield  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  they  have  sent  their 
agents  to  Europe  and  organized  the  workers  there,  —  Isaac 


VARIOUS    UNIONS.  363 

Cline,  whose  picture  appears  elsewhere  in  the  work,  being  at 
one  time  their  agent. 

The  horse-shoers  now  have  a  national  organization,  with 
James  Rafferty,  of  Pittsburgh,  as  president.  This  was  a  dif- 
ficult craft  to  organize,  on  account  of  the  numberless  small 
shops,  where  one  or  two  men  were  employed ;  but,  as  the 
horse-railroads  and  other  great  enterprises  tended  to  congre- 
gate these  workers  in  large  bodies,  they  succeeded  first  in 
forming  local  organizations,  and  then  bringing  them  together 
into  a  national  body. 

The  Iron  Moulders'  Union  for  a  time  was  one  of  the  great 
leading  unions  of  the  country.  It  has  had  some  of  the  ablest 
leaders  of  the  movement  as  its  officers,  and  covered  the  prin- 
cipal points  of  its  industry  from  East  to  West.  The  national 
organization  has  its  headquarters  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  with 
Mr.  T.  S.  Fitzpatrick  as  its  president. 

Of  the  Metal  Workers'  National  Union,  we  have  no  infor- 
mation at  hand.  W.  M.  Schultz  is  the  general  secretary,  with 
his  headquarters  in  New  York  City. 

The  piano-makers  commenced  to  organize  shortly  after 
that  industry  was  introduced,  and  have  had  many  hardly- 
contested  struggles  for  advanced  wages  and  for  lessening  the 
hours  of  labor.  Their  headquarters  are  in  New  York  City. 

The  plasterers,  as  a  class,  were  especially  prominent  in  the 
struggle  for  eight-hours,  presenting,  in  the  great  processions 
which  took  place  in  the  principal  cities  in  1872,  a  fine  appear- 
ance. Many  plasterers'  unions  have  existed  outside  of  the 
national  organization,  and  some  of  them  are  now  organized 
under  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  general  secretary  of  the 
national  organization,  James  Murphy,  has  his  headquarters 
at  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  plumbers  were  among  the  first  of  the  trades  to  gain 
the  eight-hour  system,  which  they  succeeded  in  holding  for  a 
number  of  years.  All  efforts  to  secure  information  from  the 
officers  of  these  organizations  having  failed,  we  but  thus 
briefly  refer  to  them.  In  all  cases  where  the  history  of  a 
trade  has  been  given,  we  have  obtained  the  information  from 
the  leading  officers  of  the  several  unions. 


364  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT. 

THE  AXE-MAKERS'  UNIONS. 

The  first  Axe-makers'  Union  was  formed  at  a  recent  period, 
compared  with  the  organization  of  unions  in  other  trades. 
This  was  largely  because,  up  to  about  thirteen  years  ago, 
axe-makers  were  very  well  satisfied  with  their  lot.  Till  then 
they  worked  less  hours  a  day,  and  received  much  better  com- 
pensation, than  other  mechanics.  Five  or  six  hours  a  day 
was  considered  a  day's  work,  for  which  the  axe-maker  re- 
ceived $5.00  or  $6.00  per  day,  his  helper  $3.00  or  $4.00, 
while  the  unskilled  laborers  about  the  shop  received  $2.00  or 
.$2.50  per  day  of  eight  hours.  Then,  also,  they  used  to  be 
at  liberty  in  the  afternoons,  and  people  would  wonder  if  they 
worked  at  all.  Of  course,  such  a  state  of  affairs  did  not 
incite  the  axe-makers  to  any  action  for  bettering  their  condi- 
tion, or  for  even  preserving  the  existing  conditions.  When 
a  member  of  the  craft  proposed  forming  a  union,  he  was 
cried  down  as  a  "  crank,"  and  was  told  there  was  no  need 
for  a  union. 

At  this  time  the  axe-makers  were  chiefly  American  and 
Irish.  Each  bit-drawer  had  a  helper,  who  served  an  appren- 
ticeship, and  became  an  axe-maker  in  turn,  as  a  locomotive 
fireman  learns  to  become  an  engineer  in  time.  An  axe- 
maker  named  Horrigan  introduced  French  Canadians  info 
the  trade  at  cheap  prices,  whose  competition  had  the  usual 
result  of  lowering  wages. 

The  first  union  was  formed  in  Lewiston,  Penn.,  in  1869, 
more  for  fraternal  purposes  than  anything  else.  It  existed 
only  nine  or  ten  months.  Branches  were  started  at  Lock- 
haven  and  Millhall,  Penn.,  and  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  organize  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.  These  unions  did  not  live  to  see  the  necessity  of 

tt 

wider  organization. 

During  the  panic  of  1873,  a  general  reduction  of  wages 
took  place  throughout  the  country,  averaging  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent.  The  workmen  now  made  more  axes  per 
day,  and  made  the  old  wages.  Then  there  was  another  cut, 
and  the  daily  production  was  again  increased,  until  where, 


AXE-MAKERS'  UNIONS.  365 

formerly,  an  axe-maker  would  make  100  bits  per  dav,  the 
limit  of  200  per  day  was  finally  reached ;  and  where  the 
wages  had  been  $4.75  and  $3.75  for  100  drawn  bits,  over- 
coat steel,  they  are  now  about  $1.10  for  the  helpers,  and 
$1.50  for  the  bit-drawers,  making  the  present  daily  average 
earnings  in  the  vicinity  of  $2.20  and  $3.00,  respectively, 
except  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  where  the 
wages  fall  somewhat  below  this  standard. 

After  the  above-mentioned  unions  had  died  out,  no  organi- 
zation existed  until  the  formation  of  a  union  in  Pittsburgh, 
Penn.,  in  1877.  The  first  work  of  this  union  was  to  strike 
against  a  reduction  of  wages.  This  strike  lasted  four  months, 
and  was  successful.  About  the  same  time,  a  union  was  or- 
ganized in  Cleveland  by  Thomas  B.  Barry,  then  working  at 
that  trade.  This  union  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  ten  per 
cent,  increase  of  pay,  and  the  institution  of  a  "  draw-pay,'* 
whereby,  two  weeks  after  the  regular  monthly  pay-day,  they 
could  draw  fifteen  dollars  on  account.  The  members,  hav- 
ing accomplished  thus  much,  became  careless,  owing  to  the 
opposition  to  unions,  and  allowed  the  union  to  go  down. 

Up  to  1880,  the  Knights  of  Labor  had  worked  secretly. 
Some  few  axe-makers  had  joined  them,  and  were  hoping  to 
see  their  craft  generally  become  Knights.  In  that  year  came 
a  forty  per  cent,  reduction  of  wages,  and  agitation  was  begun 
to  secure  an  advance.  In  Pittsburgh,  Beaver  Falls,  Lewis- 
ton,  Tyrone,  Millhall,  and  Cleveland  the  shops  had  been 
organized  into  the  Knights  of  Labor.  A  strike  was  inaugu- 
rated in  November,  1880.  Mr.  Barry  was  then  Master 
Workman  of  District  No.  47  and  of  the  Axe-makers'  Assem- 
bly. He  was  requested  by  the  men  in  Pittsburgh  to  move 
fpr  an  increase  of  wages.  He  felt  that  the  Order  was  yet 
young,  and  that  if  it  met  with  defeat  it  would  help  to 
sustain  the  reputation  of  Cleveland  as  the  graveyard  of 
trades-unions.  He  sought  to  secure  the  increase  by  peaceful 
methods.  The  chairman  of  the  shop  committee  at  Pittsburgh 
agreed  with  him.  They  thought  the  vast  difference  in  prices 
paid  in  the  shops  was  good  reason  why  the  company  should 
not  refuse,  and  so  asked  for  an  advance.  The  Cleveland  axe- 


366  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

makers  desired  a  twenty  per  cent,  advance,  with  or  without  a 
strike.  Mr.  Barry  tried  to  avoid  a  strike,  and  was  called  a 
"  scab  "  for  his  pains.  He  replied  that,  as  for  himself,  having 
other  resources,  he  was  prepared  to  go  into  a  strike  and  carry 
it  through,  and  never  go  into  a  shop  again  if  he  did  not  get 
the  advance".  A  committee  ol  the  best  men  in  the  shop  waited 
on  the  officials  of  the  company,  and  requested  an  advance  ;  but 
the  officials  refused  to  negotiate  or  talk  with  them.  The  com- 
mittee returned  to  their  respective  departments,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  arms  of  the  hammers  were  thrown  up,  the  dampers 
of  the  fires  knocked  down,  and  the  "heats"  taken  out  of  the 
fires,  and  thrown  on  top  of  the  "  caps."  The  strike  lasted  nine 
months  ;  and,  while  it  was  not  a  complete  success,  it  probably 
cost  the  company  $200,000  to  carry  on  the  fight.  They  were 
obliged  to  employ  unskilled  men,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  lost,  never  to  regain,  their  trade  and  standing  in  the 
market. 

The  workmen  were  scattered,  but  Mr.  Barry  was  the  only 
victim.  When  the  strike  terminated  he  had  exhausted  his 
means,  and  become  somewhat  involved  in  debt.  He  then 
learned  that  he  could  not  get  work  at  his  trade  in  the  United 
States  or  Canada.  The  doors  of  sixty-two  shops  had  been 
closed  against  him  as  a  dangerous  man.  The  Association  01 
Manufacturers  by  vote  debarred  him  from  working  at  his  trade. 
He  went  to  work  on  the  Cleveland  Breakwater  at  $i  per  day. 
Finally  a  shop  in  Saginaw,  Mich.,  not  in  the  association, 
offered  him  work,  and  he  removed  there  with  his  family. 
Later,  this  company  joined  the  association,  and  was  obliged 
to  discharge  him,  in  July,  1882.  The  man  who  notified  him 
expressed  his  sorrow  at  it,  but  said  he  must  go. 

The  unions  were  all  connected  with  the  Knights  of  Labor 
at  this  time,  but  were  broken  up  as  a  result  of  the  strike.  At 
present  they  are  forming  other  assemblies  of  the  Knights, 
secretly  in  some  places,  but  openly  in  others. 

JOURNEYMEN    BAKERS'    NATIONAL    UNION. 

Prior  to  January  13,  1885,  when  the  first  convention  was 
held,  the  various  bakers'  unions  amounted  to  but  little.  Most 


BAKERS'  NATIONAL  UNION.  367 

bakers  are  Germans.  Their  excessively  long  hours  and  the 
high  temperature  of  their  shops,  and  other  abnormal  influences 
caused  them  to  be  indifferent  to  the  great  questions  of  the  day. 
Here  and  there  they  tried  to  better  their  condition, — organized, 
went  on  strike, —  but  in  almost  all  cases  failed,  either  by  treach- 
ery of  their  own  men  or  of  their  bosses.  In  almost  all  cases, 
after  such  failures,  those  bodies,  or  rather  their  remnants, 
were  turned  into  benefit  societies,  of  which  almost  every  large 
city  had  one  or  more.  The  first  great  strike  that  occurred 
took  place  in  June,  1880,  after  the  bakers  of  New  York  had 
been  organized.  On  that  occasion,  the  New  York  union  num- 
bered about  twenty-five  hundred  members.  All  of  them  quit 
work  on  one  day,  and  assembled  at  Irving  Hall,  where  the 
employers  had  to  call,  and  sign  an  agreement,  wherein  they 
pledged  themselves  to  have  their  men  work  no  longer  than 
twelve  hours,  and  fifteen  on  Saturday  ;  to  abolish  board,  /.  e., 
give  their  men  the  liberty  to  board  where  they  chose ;  and  to 
employ  their  new  hands  from  the  Labor  Bureau  of  the  Union, 
instead  of  at  the  various  lager-beer  saloons,  which  figured  up 
to  that  time  as  bakers'  labor  exchanges,  to  the  detriment  of 
the  pockets  and  the  morals  of  the  journeymen  bakers.  After 
the  men  had  returned  to  work,  unexperienced  as  they  were 
in  the  labor  movements,  they  thought  they  would  not  require 
a  union  any  more.  They  became  negligent,  and  abandoned 
the  union,  which  soon  dwindled  down  to  almost  nothing, — just 
having  enough  of  principled  men  to  uphold  the  remnants  for  a 
few  years  ;  sometimes  even  not  having  the  necessary  quorum 
to  transact  their  business. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  movement  in  New  York,  the 
bakers  in  Chicago,  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  and  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  cities,  such  as  Newark,  N.  J.,  New 
Haven,  Cleveland,  etc.,  also  formed  unions;  but  the  down- 
fall of  the  New  York  union  caused  them  to  collapse  and  to 
remain  idle,  as  such,  for  a  period  of  years.  For  three  years 
following  1881,  nothing  was  done  among  the  bakers.  In 
April,  1885,  Secretary  Block  started  a  weekly  paper  for 
bakers  solely,  with  the  view  to  establish  thereby  a  Na- 
tional Union,  and  at  the  same  time  educate  the  men  up  to  the 


368  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

principles  of  trades-unions,  and  social  questions  in  general. 
The  New  York  union,  or  rather  the  remnants  thereof,  con- 
sisting of  about  twenty-five  members,  laughed  at  the  idea ; 
but  they  were  soon  convinced  of  the  probability  of  success. 
The  paper  was  intended,  from  the  beginning,  to  be  the  prop- 
erty of  the  union.  The  union  assisted  him,  and,  on  May  2, 
1885,  the  first  number  of  the  Deutsch-Amerikanische  Backer 
Zeitung  (  German-American  Bakers'  journal)  made  its  ap- 
pearance. It  at  at  once  spread  like  a  prairie-fire  through  the 
whole  country,  and  found  its  way  into  every  German  baker- 
shop  throughout  the  land.  All  leading  cities  at  once  went 
to  reorganize  their  forces.  The  secretary's  first  attempt  was 
directly  towards  a  National  Convention,  and  his  efforts  were 
so  far  crowned  with  success,  that  on  January  13,  1885,  twenty 
delegates  from  seventeen  cities  gathered  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn., 
to  lay  the  foundation-stone  for  the  Journeymen  Bakers' Na- 
tional Union,  of  the  United  States,  of  which  he  was  elected  na- 
tional secretary.  At  that  convention,  of  course,  the  leading 
question  was,  how  to  act  to  accomplish  an  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  the  men  in  the  trade.  Mr.  Block  advised 
them  not  to  follow  the  policy  of  strikes,  if  it  could  be  helped, 
but  in  all  cases  to  apply  the  "  boycott "  if  a  struggle  should 
ensue.  The  delegates  approved  of  his  suggestion,  and  later 
events  proved  its  efficacy.  In  New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis, 
Brooklyn,  Cleveland,  Buffalo  and  Detroit,  a  great  change 
was  accomplished  in  the  trade.  The  hours  of  labor,  which 
up  to  that  time  ranged  from  13  to  18,  and  on  Saturdays,  with 
Sunday,  from  15  to  as  much  as  25  in  some  cases,  were  reduced 
to  12,  and  14  on  Saturdays  ;  in  Chicago,  even  to  10  and  12  ; 
and  the  fight  is  still  going  on,  on  the  whole  line,  without 
strikes  of  any  account,  simply  by  the  aid  of  "  Saint  Boycott. " 
The  National  Union  numbers  to-day  38  local  unions,  from 
Boston  to  San  Francisco.  Its  paper  is  a  complete  success,  — 
a  thorough  educator  and  organ,  and  a  medium  of  exchange 
of  thoughts  among  the  German  bakers  of  this  country.  The 
union  has  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  one  year.  It  is  about 
to  gather  statistics  to  show,  beyond  question,  how  far  it  has 
benefited  the  men.  It  has  elevated  a  great  number  of  the 


BOILERMAKERS    AND    SHIPBUILDERS.  369 

men  intellectually,  has  sown  the  seed  of  true  republicanism 
into  their  minds,  has  elevated  them  to  be  men  who  are  ready 
to  fight  for  their  rights,  has  taught  them  that  they  are  not 
born  to  remain  willing  slaves.  The  bosses  display  antagonism 
against  Secretary  Block,  and  have  gone  so  far  as  to  establish 
a  weekly  trades-paper  in  New  York  City,  to  counteract  his 
efforts. 


BOILERMAKERS    AND    IRON-SHIP    BUILDERS. 

The  International  Brotherhood  of  Boilermakers'  and  Iron- 
Ship  Builders'  Union  was  first  formed  by  the  boilermakers  of 
the  city  of  Chicago,  in  1880.  In  that  year,  they  sent  a  dele- 
gate as  an  organizer  all  over  the  country,  and  in  one  year  he 
organized  sixty-four  branches  of  this  union.  There  had  been 
local  unions  in  some  cities  he  visited.  In  New  York,  there  has 
been  a  local  union  for  over  thirty  years,  but  this  is  the  first  inter- 
national union  ever  organized  by  boilermakers  in  this  coun- 
try. It  now  numbers  108  branches  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  with  a  membership  of  over  8,000  in  good  standing. 
It  extends  from  Maine  to  California,  and  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  first  convention  was  held  in  Chicago, 
and  there  were  23  delegates  present.  The  next  was  held  at 
Boston,  and  there  were  68  delegates  .present.  The  next  con- 
vention was  held  at  Cincinnati,  and  the  iron-ship  builders 
from  the  Delaware  River  were  admitted  into  the  organization. 
The  number  of  delegates  present  at  this  meeting  was  82.  The 
next  convention  was  held  in  New  York,  and  there  were  97 
delegates  present.  Three  of  these  were  from  England  to  rep- 
resent the  boilermakers  and  iron-ship  builders  of  that  country, 
where  it  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  richest  of  the  trades- 
unions.  At  this  convention  the  organization  joined  hands  with 
the  boilermakers  of  England,  and  became  part  and  parcel 
of  that  union.  It  claims  that  it  is  the  only  trades-union  in 
this  country  whose  organization  extends  over  the  New  and 
the  Old  World.  The  Convention  of  1885  was  held  in  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  in  September,  and  that  of  1886  in  Reading, 
Penn.,  also  in  September. 


37°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

This  organization  never  allows  a  strike  in  any  branch  of 
the  Brotherhood.  It  always  claims  the  right  of  a  conference 
between  the  employer  and  the  members  of  the  union.  If  all 
fails,  and  it  has  no  other  remedy,  it  reserves  the  right  to  strike. 
Since  the  organization  has  been  in  existence,  it  has  had  some 
very  hard  strikes  to  handle. 

The  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  strike  lasted  six  months,  and  the 
Brotherhood  won.  The  Brotherhood  has  never  lost  a  strike. 
It  is  not  organized  for  strikes.  It  has  a  far  higher  call- 
ing and  duty  to  perform,  as  it  is  a  chartered  body  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  benevolent  and  char- 
itable purposes.  This  charter  is  given  to  all  branches  of 
the  organization.  There  are  very  few  trades-unions  in  the 
United  States  that  have  the  same  .advantages  as  the  branches 
of  this  organization  on  this  question.  This  organization  also 
advocates  the  principle  that  every  national  or  international 
trades-union  should  regulate  its  own  affairs  ;  for  a  man  from 
another  trade  or  calling  does  not  know  the  needs  and  griev-' 
ances  of  the  men  in  a  different  trade.  It  believes  that 
each  trade  should  preserve  its  own  distinct  individuality  and 
autonomy. 


BRICKLAYERS'  AND  MASONS'  INTERNATIONAL  UNION. 

For  some  time  previous  to  the  late  Civil  War,  bricklayers' 
unions  of  a  local  character  were  organized  and  thrived  in 
several  cities  of  the  Union  ;  but  until  1865  there  was  no  effort 
made  by  any  of  the  craft  to  institute  or  perfect  a  national 
organization.  The  agitation  of  such  a  movement,  however, 
between  the  bricklayers  of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  New 
York  City  resulted  in  a  conference  of  delegates  from  the 
unions  of  those  cities,  which  was  held,  October  16,  1865,  in 
"  Painters'  Hall,"  Philadelphia.  Mr.  John  A.  White,  of  Bal- 
timore, was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Jared  A.  Bitting,  of 
Philadelphia,  was  made  secretary.  After  adopting  the  name, 
"  International  Bricklayers'  Union  of  North  America,"  and  a 
constitution,  the  conference,  having  issued  an  address  to  the 
bricklayers'  unions  of  the  country,  adjourned,  to  meet  in 


NEW   YORK   LABOR    LEADERS. 


BRICKLAYERS    AND    MASONS. 


371 


their  first  annual  session,  which  was  held  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
in  Royston  Hall,  Monday,  January  8,  1866. 

This  convention  was  attended  by  delegates  from  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  New  York  City,  Brooklyn,  Williams- 
burgh,  Jersey  City,  Richmond,  Va.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and 
Cincinnati,  O.  The  .convention  lasted  five  days,  resulting  in 
perfecting  a  permanent  organization,  establishing  a  code  of 
laws  for  its  government,  and  perfecting  its  constitution.  Its 
first  national  officers  elected  were  :  John  A.  White,  of  Balti- 
more, president;  J.  Edward  Kirby,  of  Baltimore,  secretary; 
Joseph  Hackney,  of  Philadelphia,  treasurer. 

The  following  year  the  second  annual  session  was  held  in 
Cincinnati,  O.,  when  delegates  from  twenty-five  unions  at- 
tended, representing  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Ohio, 
Missouri,  and  Indiana.  From  that  time  to  1874,  tne  organi- 
zation grew  rapidly,  having  sixty-nine  unions  on  its  roll,  and 
embracing  a  membership  of  near  ten  thousand.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  title  of  the  Order  was  changed  to  "National  Bricklay- 
ers' Union,"  and  it  continued  under  that  name  until  1883,  when 
it  was  again  changed  to  its  present  form,  that  of  "  Bricklayers' 
and  Masons'  International  Union  of  America."  The  reasons 
of  changing  the  title  first  adopted  to  that  of  "National  Union," 
was  that  the  Order  did  not  at  the  time  deem  it  advisable  to 
take  in  unions  of  its  craft  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada ;  there- 
fore, they  deemed  its  title  of  "International"  did  not  hold  good. 
Since  then,  events  which  were  proving  to  the  contrary,  the 
old  title  was  renewed,  and  the  word  "Masons"  added;  and 
the  Order  now  reaches  from  Providence,  in  the  East,  to  Den-' 
ver,  Col.,  in  the  West;  from  Toronto,  Canada,  in  the  North, 
to  Galveston,  Texas,  in  the  South. 

During  the  depression  of  business,  occasioned  by  the  finan- 
cial panic  of  1873,  and  which  extended  to  1880,  the  Order 
decreased  in  unions  and  membership  until,  in  1879,  ^ut  tnree 
unions  sent  their  delegates  to  represent  them  in  annual  con- 
vention. Those  there  were  No.  i,  of  Cincinnati,  O.  ;  No.  i, 
of  Indianapolis,  Ind.  ;  and  No.  2,  of  Covington,  Ky.  A  re- 
action in  business  caused  a  reaction  in  organization.  Union 


372  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

after  union  reorganized,  and  reported  for  admission  ;  and  now 
the  Order  is  stronger  than  ever  before.  It  has  on  its  roll  103 
unions,  with  a  membership  of  about  16,000;  and  charters  for 
new  unions  are  being  granted  almost  weekly. 

The  Order  is  a  purely  protective  one  in  a  national  sense, 
though  all  of  the  subordinate  unions  have  benevolent  features 
combined.  Should  any  unions  encounter  any  difficulty  or 
have  trouble  with  "  master-builders,"  which  would  result  in 
causing  a  strike,  such  union  will  have  to  present  a  bill  of  griev- 
ances, which  will  be  submitted  to  all  the  subordinate  unions 
before  they  can  be  allowed  the  permission  to  strike,  so  as  to 
procure  the  necessary  relief  and  assistance  from  the  Interna- 
tional Union. 

The  International  Union  reserves  the  right,  in  all  such  mat- 
ters as  those,  of  establishing  regular  hours  of  labor ;  and  any 
subordinate  unions  which  tak'e  any  of  these  measures  upon 
themselves  without  the  necessary  permission  do  so  upon  their 
own  responsibility,  and  receive  no  countenance  from  the 
Order. 

The  union  is  now  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  its  growth, 
and  has  held  its  annual  conventions  in  Baltimore  twice,  in 
Cincinnati  three  times,  in  New  York  twice,  in  Washington, 
Chicago,  Pittsburgh,  Albany,  Indianapolis,  Louisville,  Brook- 
lyn, Quincy,  111.,  Covington,  Ky.,  Buffalo,  Providence,  Jer- 
sey City  and  St.  Louis.  The  next  place  of  meeting  will  be 
Washington. 

At  the  last  convention  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  the  Order  decided 
to  enforce  the  nine-hour  system,  to  go  into  effect  on  the  ist  of 
May  last.  This  demand  was  readily  and  generally  acquiesced 
in,  being  regarded  by  the  capitalists  of  the  country  as  the  most 
conservative  demand  made  by  any  organization  relative  to  the 
question  of  the  hours  of  labor,  and,  therefore,  the  least  open 
to  objection.  The  union  believes  in  slow,  but  sure,  methods 
of  conducting  business,  and  always  strives  to  act  intelligently 
on  any  subject  before  adopting  it.  Patiently  it  waits  for  the 
time  to  come  when,  to  belong  to  a  labor  organization  is  not 
to  be  considered  a  reproach,  but  to  be  accorded  the  same 
recognition  and  respect  as  is  given  to  those  of  the  wealthier 


BARBERS.  373 

class,  who  belong  to  the  so-called  boards  of  trade,  exchanges, 
etc.  The  objects  of  both  elements  are  the  same,  the  only  dif- 
ference consisting  in  "the  name." 


BARBERS,    OR    HAIRDRESSERS. 

This  branch  of  industry  is  different  from  the  others,  in  that 
there  are  more  proprietors  of  shops  to  the  number  of  jour- 
neymen than  in  any  other  occupation.  The  subject  cannot, 
therefore,  well  be  considered  from  the  employers'  stand-point. 
While  it  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  progress  of  this 
trade  from  "ye  olden  tyme,"  when  the  same  person  was  barber 
and  surgeon,  we  must  come  at  once  to  1878,  when  some  of 
the  members  of  the  trade  saw  that  a  halt  must  be  called  to 
stop  ruinous  competition,  and  the  "  Barbers'  Protective  Union  " 
was  formed,  with  headquarters  at  Philadelphia,  and  a  national 
organ,  known  as  the  Barbers'  National  Journal ',  was  started. 
The  organization  did  not  grow  very  rapidly,  and  it  is  dying 
from  inactivity.  Various  papers  were  started  in  favor  of  the 
trade,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Barbers'  Gazette, 
of  New  York  ;  the  Tonsorial  Clipper,  of  Chicago  ;  the  Hair- 
dressers and  Perfumers,  of  New  York  ;  and  The  Shaver,  of 
Holyoke,  Mass.,  the  latter  being  really  an  ideal  paper  for  the 
trade.  Until  recently,  the  various  unions  had  done  compara- 
tively little  that  was  really  beneficial  to  the  craft.  But  since 
the  birth  and  general  development  of  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
there  have  been  formed  in  nearly  all  the  principal  cities  assem- 
blies of  that  order,  composed  exclusively  of  barbers, .  and 
much  good  has  been  done.  In  many  instances  Sunday-work 
has  been  abolished,  and  there  is  a  general  move  in  this  direc- 
tion in  the  larger  cities.  The  five-cent  shaving  has,  to  a  great 
extent,  been  done  away  with.  The  fight  has  been  hard  and 
bitter,  but  much  good  has  been  done. 

Seeing  the  necessity  of  united  action,  the  Boston  barbers 
have  called  upon  their  brothers  throughout  the  country  to 
assist  in  forming  a  national  organization.  It  is  hoped  that 
this  will  soon  be  accomplished,  and  that  the  condition  of  the 
trade  will  be  kept  up  to  its  standard.  The  union  in  Boston 


374  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

has  been  the  cause  of  many  being   formed  in   the  United 
States,  and  has  performed  a  great  deal  of  active  work. 

IMPROVED  DRUGGISTS' WARE  GLASSBLOWERS '  LEAGUE. 

This  organization,  as  at  present  constituted,  dates  from 
1874.  Previous  to  that  time,  there  had  been  a  union  that  had 
gone  to  pieces  in  1867,  and  glass  bottle-blowers  in  the  interim 
were  in  a  badly  demoralized  condition.  In  1873,  just  after 
the  "  panic, "  manufacturers  took  advantage  of  the  situation, 
and  commenced  reducing  wages.  A  union  of  glass  bottle- 
blowers,  called  the  "Improved  League,"  had  been  started 
east  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  several  years  previous  to  its 
introduction  in  the  West.  The  first  branch  in  the  West  was 
organized  at  Pittsburgh,  and  was  known  as  Branch  14.  The 
new  union  very  soon  extended  throughout  the  West.  Wil- 
liam Campbell,  of  St.  Louis,  was  elected  the  first  manager 
of  the  Western  district,  which  embraced  Pittsburgh,  and  all 
places  west  of  it.  In  Pittsburgh,  in  1876,  the  manufacturers 
demanded  a  further  reduction  of  ten  per  cent,  to  which  the 
League  refused  consent,  and  the  factories  lay  idle  the  most  of 
that  year.  A  few  were  running  with  men  who  were  not 
members  of  the  League ;  but  all  those  who  were  gallantly 
held  out,  and  in  the  spring  of  1877  went  to  work,  the  winners 
of  the  contest.  In  that  year  the  St.  Louis  manufacturers  de- 
manded a  reduction,  which  was  refused,  and  the  men  went 
out  on  strike.  The  manufacturers  went  East  for  men,  and 
brought  back  a  full  set  to  take  the  places  of  the  strikers.  But 
they  did  not  remain  long  in  St.  Louis,  as  they  were  prevailed 
on  to  go  home  upon  having  their  fares  paid  by  the  strikers. 
It  was  a  bitter  struggle,  but  resulted  in  a  triumph  for  the 
League.  In  1877,  William  Simpson,  of  Pittsburgh,  was 
elected  Manager  of  the  League.  In  1878,  with  an  improve- 
ment in  trade,  the  League  rapidly  gained  strength  and  cohe- 
sion, gathering  in  all  the  stray  workmen  who  had  held  aloof 
during,  the  dull  times.  In  1880,  Louis  Arrington  was  elected 
manager.  That  summer  a  demand  was  made  for  a  ten  per 
cent  advance,  which  was  granted  without  any  trouble.  In 
1881,  the  De  Steiger  Glass  Company,  of  La  Salle,  111.,  dis- 


AMALGAMATED    ENGINEERS.  375 

charged  all  their  blowers,  and  sent  to  Germany  and  imported 
a  full  set  of  men,  to  work  for  but  little  more  than  half  of  the 
current  rate  of  wages.  The  League  tried  all  manner  of  in- 
ducements and  explanations  with  these  imported  men  to  show 
them  where  their  true  interests  lay, 'but  could  make  no  impres- 
sion on  them.  In  1883,  the  manufacturers  complained  of  the 
low  prices,  principally  caused  by  La  Salle  cutting  under  the 
market,  and  demanded  a  reduction  of  ten  or  twenty  per 
cent.  This  was  refused,  and  the  factories  lay  idle,  gener- 
ally until  February  of  the  following  year,  when  they  resumed 
at  the  old  rate.  But,  in  the  fall,  they  came  again  with  the 
same  demand.  It  was  still  refused,  as  the  League  could  not 
see  that  it  would  improve  the  condition  of  the  trade  a  particle. 
The  majority  of  the  factories  did  not  run  more  than  half-time 
that  season.  In  the  meantime, the  De  Steiger  firm  at  La  Salle 
had  failed.  Several  other  firms  had  tried  the  German  work- 
men, who  were  offering  themselves  on  any  terms ;  but  they 
were  found  to  be  both  unprofitable  and  unsuitable.  In  the 
fall  of  1885,  the  Pittsburgh  manufacturers,  doubtless  expect- 
ing that  the  League  treasury  and  men  were  impoverished, 
made  the  old  demand,  and  refused  to  start.  A  number  of 
other  places  followed  their  example,  so  that  only  about  one- 
third  of  the  men  got  to  work.  There  was,  undoubtedly, 
a  deep-laid  plot  to  break  up  the  League ;  but  it  was  entirely 
unsuccessful.  It  has  now  670  members,  divided  into  15 
branches.  Last  season,  it  distributed  $30,000  in  relief  to  its 
needy  members  ;  and  to-day  it  is  numerically  and  financially 
stronger  than  at  any  period  of  its  history. 

AMALGAMATED    ENGINEERS. 

This  organization  of  machinists  was  established  first  in 
England,  but  it  has  numerous  and  powerful  branches  on  the 
continent  and  in  America.  It  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
labor  organizations.  Many  years  ago,  it  succeeded  in  fixing 
nine  hours  as  the  standard  for  a  day's  work.  It  has  a  large 
benefit-fund,  and  never  carries  in  its  treasury  less  than  an 
allowance  of  $15  for  each  member.  It  now  has  about  52,000 
members,  and  about  $1,000,000  in  its  treasury. 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


INTERNATIONAL    FURNITURE    WORKERS*    UNION. 

The  oldest  union  now  belonging  to  the  International  Fur- 
niture Workers'  Union  is  Union  No.  7,  of  New  York  City. 
It  was  organized  in  April,  1859,  under  the  name,  "United 
Cabinet-makers  of  New  York."  This  union  made  an  attempt 
to  enforce  the  eight-hour  work-day  in  1872.  It  only  par- 
tially succeeded,  and  had  to  give  up  after  a  strike  of  eight 
weeks.  They  claimed  that  the  failure  was  due  to  the  inac- 
tivity of  the  workmen  in  other  cities.  Unions  were  at  that  time 
organized,  or  reorganized,  in  several  cities,  which  communi- 
cated with  each  other,  and  arranged  the  First  Convention  of 
Furniture  Workers,  which  met  in  Cincinnati,  O.,  July  7,  1873. 
A  national  organization  was  effected,  under  the  name,  "Fur- 
niture Workers'  Association  of  North  America."  Unions  from 
the  following  cities  were  represented :  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Cincinnati,  Chicago,  Evansville,  Ind.,  Louisville,  Ky., 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  San  Francisco.  The 
constitution  provided  for  a  central  committee  as  the  head  of 
the  organization.  The  central  committee  had  to  elect  a  cor- 
responding secretary,  treasurer,  and  financial  secretary,  who 
were  the  general  officers  of  the  organization.  There  being 
no  president,  the  executive  committee  had  to  elect  a  chairman 
for  each  session.  The  constitution  provided  for  mutual  assist- 
ance in  strikes,  but  had  no  benevolent  features.  The  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  adopted  :  — 

The  Congress  declares  the  establishment  of  the  eight-hours'  normal  work- 
ing-day to  be  indispensably  necessary,  and  demands  the  union  to  begin  a  lively 
agitation  for  its  introduction  by  legislation.  The  Congress  also  advocates  the 
abolition  of  piece-work. 

The  Congress  recommends  to  all  workingmen's  organizations  to  agitate  for 
the  following  points  : — 

That  no  master  shall  employ  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age ;  that  pub- 
lic school  instruction  should  be  obligatory  until  the  age  of  fifteen  years;  that 
school  instruction  should  be  gratuitous  up  to  the  highest  degrees. 

The  Congress  recommends  to  the  workingmen  to  organize  their  trades- 
unions  in  the  first  place,  and  then  to  form  an  independent  workingmen's 
party,  to  elect  only  representatives  of  the  working  class  to  the  highest  legis- 
lative bodies  of  the  country. 

The  Congress  advocates  the  mutual  co-operation  of  the  workingmen  of  all 


CONVENTIONS.  377 

countries,  and  directs  the  central  committee  to  enter  into  relations  with  their 
respective  central  bodies. 

The  Congress  recommends  to  the  local  unions  the  establishment  of  labor 
bureaus. 

The  Congress  demands  that  employers  shall  be  responsible  for  all  damages 
to  workingmen  from  accidents  arising  through  any  negligence  on  the  em- 
ployers' part,  especially  by  machinery. 

Considering  that  the  present  economical  circumstances  force  the  working- 
men  to  the  practice  of  unlimited  solidarity ;  that  secret  organizations  are  an 
obstacle  to  the  labor  movement,  the  Congress  recommends  to  the  unions 
"  unrestrained  "  publicity  in  their  meetings. 

The  first  central  committee  was  located  in  New  York  City, 
with  Karl  Speyer  as  corresponding  secretary.  The  next 
convention  was  held  in  Baltimore,  September,  1874.  Eleven 
unions  were  represented,  —  among  which  were  one  of  uphol- 
sterers and  one  of  wood-carvers,  both  of  New  York, — from 
the  following  cities :  New  York,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  Providence,  R.  I.,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco.  The 
number  of  members  had  decreased  since  the  previous  con- 
vention, on  account  of  the  business  depression  which  ensued 
in  October,  1873.  The  members  in  Cincinnati  went  on  strike 
without  the  consent  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  were 
defeated.  This  broke  up  their  union. 

The  next  convention  was  held  in  Indianapolis,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1876.  B.  Kaufmann  was  secretary  at  the  time.  The 
number  of  local  unions  had  at  that  time,  in  consequence  of 
the  business  crisis  which  wiped  so  many  organizations  out 
of  existence,  dwindled  down  to  nine.  Some  of  them  ceased 
to  exist  soon  afterwards.  At  this  convention,  it  was  resolved 
to  institute  a  tool-insurance,  for  the  benefit  of  the  members  in 
case  of  fire.  Such  an  institution  had  to  a  great  extent  bene- 
fited the  members  of  Union  No.  7,  New  York,  where  it  was 
started  in  1860.  Many  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  paid 
to  members  who  lost  their  tools  by  fire.  This  insurance  is 
about  one-half  cheaper  than  in  capitalistic  companies.  At 
this  convention,  it  was  resolved  that  the  central  committee 
should  be  located  in  Chicago.  Up  to  that  time,  no  strike 
of  any  importance,  as  far  as  the  national  organization  was 
concerned,  had  occurred.  The  central  committee  had  ex- 
pended hundred  of  dollars  in  agitation,  without  much  success, 


378  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

besides  keeping  the  organization  in  existence.  After  this,  no 
convention  was  held  for  four  years.  The  central  committee 
remained  in  Chicago  for  two  years.  H.  Stahl,  and  after  him 
G.  Hecrist,  was  elected  corresponding  secretary.  By  a  gen- 
eral vote  in  1878,  the  central  committee  was  again  located 
in  New  York,  and  L.  Zetsche  elected  secretary.  The  central 
committee  then  began  a  lively  agitation  for  eight  hours,  and 
issued  a  pamphlet  in  favor  of  the  movement. 

The  Fourth  Convention  was  held  in  Chicago,  in  1880,  and 
eight  of  the  local  unions  then  existing  were  represented. 
Some  changes  of  minor  importance  were  made,  and  resolu- 
tions were  adopted,  declaring 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  all  the  unions  to  take  in  hand,  without  delay,  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  work-day,  so  as  to  hasten  the  advent  of  the  normal  work-day  of 
eight  hours,  which  alone  can  render  an  equipoise  of  production  and  consump- 
tion possible,  and  a  lack  of  employment  avoidable. 

New  York  was  again  selected  as  the  place  for  the  central 
committee.  The  Fifth  Convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati, 
where  changes  of  great  importance  in  the  constitution  v/ere 
made.  A  "strike-fund"  was  established,  in  order  to  abolish 
assessments  in  cases  of  strikes.  Into  this  strike-fund,  which 
is  under  the  control  of  the  executive  committee,  which  name 
was  substituted  for  central  committee,  each  local  union  has 
to  pay  its  monthly  dues  for  each  of  its  members.  A  death- 
benefit  fund  was  also  instituted,  out  of  which,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  $4,450  have  been  paid  to  twenty-eight  families. 
It  was  further  resolved  to  issue  a  journal  every  two  weeks, 
to  be  edited  by  the  corresponding  secretary.  A  sick-benefit 
fund  was  also  established,  out  of  which,  during  the  three  and 
a  half  years  of  its  existence,  $6, 488. 29  have  been  paid  to  sick 
members. 

These  new  institutions  in  the  organization  required,  of 
course,  higher  dues.  The  executive  committee  again  came 
to  New  York,  and  H.  Emrich  was  re-elected  secretary. 
Two  months  after  this  new  constitution  was  enforced,  four 
unions  ceased  to  exist.  The  number  of  members  of  the  Inter- 
national Furniture  Workers'  Union — which  was  the  name 
adopted  at  Cincinnati — was  only  1,300.  But  through  the  in- 


GRANITE-CUTTERS     NATIONAL    UNION.  379 

fluence  of  the  .Journal,  it  soon  commenced  to  grow  again,  and 
has  to-day  26  local  unions,  with  over  6,000  members,  after  sev- 
eral thousand  new  members  have  been  lost,  and  after  the  fail- 
ure of  the  eight-hour  movement  in  May  last,  in  which  14  of 
the  local  unions  were  engaged,  and  over  $30,000  paid  out 
on  strike-benefits  by  the  local  unions. 

The  Sixth  Convention  was  held  in  Alleghany  City,  1884. 
No  great  changes  were  made  there,  but  an  important  declar- 
ation of  principles  was  adopted.  It  affirmed  that  there  was 
antagonism  between  the  proprietary  and  the  working-classes, 
the  interests  of  the  former  being  to  keep  wages  as  low  as 
possible  ;  "  that  the  laboring  class  must  emancipate  itself  from 
all  influences  of  its  enemy,  the  proprietary  class,  and  organize 
locally,  nationally,  and  internationally,  to  set  the  power  of  the 
organized  masses  against  capitalism  ;  and  that  it  must  see  that 
its  interests  be  represented  in  the  shops,  in  the  different 
branches  of  the  local,  State,  and  national  administrations  and 
government." 

Since  then,  the  executive  committee  has  been  in  New 
York,  with  H.  Emrich  as  secretary.  The  main  object 
in  view  is  still  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor. 

THE  GRANITE-CUTTERS'  NATIONAL  UNION. 

The  first  conception  of  this  union  was  at  Clark's  Island, 
Me.,  January  2,  1877.  The  union  was  started  with  a 
view,  if  possible,  of  combining  every  granite-cutter  in  the 
United  States  in  one  general  union.  A  temporary  organiza- 
tion was  formed  at  Clark's  Island,  a  board  of  officers  was 
elected,  and  communications  entered  into  with  Carver's  Har- 
bor, Hurricane  Island,  Spruce  Head  and  Dix  Island.  Com- 
mittees were  sent  to  each  place,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
formation  of  organizations  or  branches,  and  a  convention  was 
held  in  Rockland,  Me.,  by  delegates  selected  by  Clark's 
Island,  Carver's  Harbor,  Spruce  Head  and  Hurricane.  A 
constitution  was  drawn  up,  which  was  submitted  to  the 
branches  for  adoption.  The  branch  at  Spruce  Head  an- 
nounced on  March  6,  1877,  tnat  N.  C.  Bassick  had  been 
elected  president  for  one  year;  N.  S.  Fales,  Thomas  Fahy, 


380  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

P.  H.  Cooney,  I.  P.  Clay  and  William  K.  Smith,  standing 
committee,  and  T.  H.  Murch,  secretary.  The  first  meeting 
of  the  National  Board  was  held  March  10,  and  the  union  duly 
organized  as  a  National  Union,  and  from  that  time  the  union 
has  steadily  advanced.  The  secretary,  T.  H.  Murch,  having 
been  elected  to  Congress  in  the  place  of  Eugene  Hale,  J.  B. 
Dyer  was  elected  his  successor.  The  first  convention  of  the 
union  was  held  in  Evans  Hall,  Boston,  Mass.,  February  5, 
1878,  with  twenty-four  delegates  present,  representing  twenty- 
two  branches.  The  first  strike  of  the  union  was  at  Vinal- 
haven,  April  6,  1878.  Mr.  Wharf,  the  agent  of  the  Bodwell 
Granite  Company,  having  discharged  thirty  of  the  most  promi- 
nent members  of  the  union,  the  other  members  struck,  and 
presented  a  bill  of  prices.  'Since  then,  the  union  has  been 
engaged  in  several  strikes  and  lockouts,  the  most  notable 
being  the  lockout  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  lasting  nearly  nine 
months.  The  union,  being  conducted  on  a  conservative  pol- 
icy, has  gained  the  approval  of  the  majority  of  large  employ- 
ers in  the  trade,  and  nearly  every  branch  has  its  bill  of  prices 
to  govern  its  locality,  preventing  considerable  trouble,  which 
previously  occurred ;  and  many  of  the  employers,  who  were 
first  antagonistic  to  it,  are  now  its  advocates,  and  prefer  union 
to  non-union  men.  Previous  to  the  organization  of  the 
National  Union,  several  places  had  attempted  local  unions, 
but  they  had  fallen  through,  owing  to  their  isolated  condition. 
Among  those  were  New  York,  Westerly,  Philadelphia, 
Washington,  Boston,  Richmond  and  Baltimore ;  but  they 
are  again  organized  as  branches  of  the  National  Union.  The 
headquarters  of  the  union  is  changed  every  two  years,  and 
has  been  located  in  Rockland,  Me.,  Boston,  Mass.,  Westerly, 
R.  I.,  Quincy,  Mass.,  and  is  at  present  located  at  1907 
Market  street,  Philadelphia,  Penn.  The  President  is  John  G. 
Laycock,  and  the  secretary  Josiah  B.  Dyer.  The  union 
publishes  a  trade  journal  monthly,  which  is  acknowledged  to 
be  a  credit  to  the  craft. 

In  the  spring  of  1885  a  combination  was  formed,  composed 
of  the  Smith  Granite  Co.,  Rhode  Island  Granite  Works,  the 
Chapman  Granite  Works  of  Westerly,  R.  I.,  A.  G.  Crumb, 


COMBINATION    OF    EMPLOYERS.  381 

of  Niantic,  R.  I.,  Charles  F.  Stoll,  Merritt  Gray  &  Co.,  of 
Groton,  Conn.,  Gates  &  Park,  and  Booth  Bros.,  of  Millstone 
Point,  Conn.,  to  cut  down  prices  fifteen  per  cent.,  and  efforts 
were  made  to  get  all  the  New  England  manufacturers  to  join 
with  them.  The  men  employed  on  the  Rhode  Island  Granite 
Works,  at  Westerly,  Gates  &  Parks,  and  Booth  Bros.'  works 
at  Millstone  Point,  and  Merritt,  Gray  &  Co.,  of  Groton,  struck 
against  the  reduction  ;  and,  after  a  protracted  struggle,  the  men 
were  successful,  the  other  firms  not  enforcing  the  reduction 
when  the  time  came.  The  Rhode  Island  Granite  Works  held 
out  until  February,  1886,  when  both  parties  agreed  to  leave 
the  question  in  dispute  to  the  arbitration  of  the  Executive  JBoard 
of  District  Assembly  99,  Knights  of  Labor,  who,  having  de- 
cided in  favor  of  the  union,  the  works  were  opened  to  union 
men  and  declared  a  union  job,  and  on  March  8th  a  social  re- 
union was  held  in  Westerly,  in  which  all  parties  engaged  in 
the  dispute  and  settlement  had  a  "  good  time,"  and  "  buried 
the  hatchet."  As  an  offshoot  of  this  trouble,  the  manufacturers 
of  Barre  formed  a  combination  to  crush  out  unionism  in  Ver- 
mont, and  on  a  branch  being  formed  in  South  Ryegate,  they 
sent  to  the  Ryegate  Granite  Works,  at  South  Ryegate,  and 
the  other  manufacturers  of  that  place,  inviting  them  to  join 
their  combination.  As  a  consequence,  the  following  notice 
was  issued  by  the  Ryegate  Granite  Works  :  — 

SOUTH  RYEGATE,  April  8,  1885. 

DEAR  SIR  :  —  We  are  informed  that  something  is  being  done  with  reference 
to  the  formation  of  a  stone-cutters'  union  in  this  place.  We  have  seen  much 
of  the  trouble  and  disturbance  arising  from  such  unions,  and  are  satisfied  that 
they  are  neither  an  advantage  to  workmen  nor  contractors.  We  prefer  and 
propose  to  deal  with  every  man  in  our  employ  as  an  independent  individual, 
capable  of  managing  his  own  contracts.  We  allow  none  of  our  co-contractors 
to  dictate  to  us  as  to  what  terms  we  shall  employ  you  upon.  And  we  want 
no  one  to  dictate  to  you  as  to  the  terms  on  which  you  shall  work  for  us.  In 
this  view,  we  have  decided  to  employ  no  one  who  is  engaged  in  the  enterprise 
first  named. 

An  immediate  reply,  stating  what  action  you  intend  taking  in  the  matter,  is 
requested.  We  are,  yours  very  truly, 

RYEGATE  GRANITE  WORKS, 
Sellick. 

The  men  who  organized  the  branch,  on  being  thus  locked 
out,  inserted  an  advertisement  in  the  Boston  Herald  to  keep 


382  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

men  away,  and  the  works  were  declared  "scabbed."  Carter, 
who  ran  the  works,  threatened  legal  proceedings  if  the  ad- 
vertisement was  not  withdrawn,  and  an  humble  apology 
inserted.  The  men  refused  to  do  so.  They  were  arrested 
and  taken  to  St.  Johnsbury,  charged  with  conspiracy,  and 
thirteen  were  bound  over  for  trial  under  $300  bail  each. 
The  citizens  of  South  Ryegate  promptly  came  to  the  rescue, 
and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $250,000  were  ready  if  neces- 
sary. At  the  June  term  of  court,  the  grand  jury  having 
found  a  true  bill,  the  case  was  continued  until  the  May,  1886, 
term,  when  the  judge  took  the  case  under  advisement  to 
search  up  authorities  cited  by  Bates  &  May,  the  attorneys  for 
the  so-called  "  conspirators,"  and  it  still  remains  unsettled. 

Trouble  has  also  been  caused  by  convict  labor  on  the  new 
capitol  at  Austin,  Texas,  which  was  therefore  declared  a 
"scab"  job.  The. contractor  endeavored  to  get  granite-cut- 
ters from  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  and  had  some  success.  On 
Monday,  April  26,  1886,  his  agent  landed  at  Castle  Garden, 
New  York,  with  seventy-eight  granite-cutters  and  eight  tool- 
sharpeners,  under  contract  to  go  to  Burnet,  Texas,  to  work 
for  him.  An  effort  was  made  to  prevent  their  proceeding  any 
further  in  violation  of  the  contract-labor  law ;  but  owing  to  its 
defects  the  attempt  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  agent  and  the 
imported  aliens  were  allowed  to  proceed  by  the  United  States 
authorities,  but  twenty-four  decided  to  remain  in  New  York. 
Those  remaining  having  the  proofs  of  the  contract  made  in 
Aberdeen  with  them,  and  their  passage-money  advanced 
them,  an  affidavit  was  made  before  the  United  States  Com- 
missioner, and  all  the  necessary  documents  forwarded  to  Texas 
for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  law.  Suits  have  been  entered 
against  the  contractor  and  the  syndicate  for  the  full  penalty 
of  one  thousand  dollars  for  each  man  imported,  and  nineteen 
additional  affidavits  have  been  forwarded  to  Austin.  The 
trial  is  expected  to  come  on  in  the  August  term  of  court,  and 
the  case  is  being  watched  with  much  interest,  as  it  is  claimed 
to  be  the  clearest  case  of  violation  of  the  law  yet  discovered. 
The  proofs  of  contract  and  of  payment  of  passage-money 
are  so  clear,  that  it  appears  an  impossibility  for  the  contractor 


HORSE-RAILROAD    MEN.  383 

and  the  syndicate  to  evade  the  full  penalty  of  the  law.  D.  A. 
78,  at  its  last  meeting,  decided  to  push  the  matter  to  the  utmost 
extent,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  secure  all  legal 
assistance  necessary.  In  this  fight  the  Granite  Cutter's  Na- 
tional Union  and  D.  A.  78,  Knights  of  Labor,  are  standing 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  recognizing  fully  that  "  an  injury  to  one 
is  the  concern  of  all,"  in  the  ranks  of  labor's  army. 

THE    HORSE-RAILROAD    MEN. 

The  first  horse-railroad  employee  to  join  the  Knights  of* 
Labor  in  New  York  was  initiated  in  a  printers'  local  assembly. 
A  printer  riding  up  and  down  on  the  cars  entered  into  con- 
versation with  the  driver,  and  showed  him  the  advantages  of 
being  a  Knight.  The  driver  was  convinced,  made  applica- 
tion, was  initiated  and  finally  persuaded  thirteen  more  drivers 
to  join.  They  then  obtained  transfer-cards,  and  started  the 
first  local  assembly  of  horse-railroad  employees  in  September, 
1883.  Owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  railroad  officials,  great 
caution  at  first  was  necessary.  By  December,  the  member- 
ship was  increased  to  about  five  hundred,  and  another  local 
assembly  was  formed,  in  East  New  York.  Then  assemblies 
were  formed  in  Flatbush,  in  January,  1884;  and  in  Green- 
wood and  at  Green  Point  in  February.  A  traitor  to  the 
cause  obtained  entrance  to  the  first  assembly  organized,  and 
gave  to  the  company's  officials  a  copy  of  the  constitution,  the 
names  of  the  officers  of  the  assembly,  and  of  those  most 
active  in  its  interests.  Soon  after  this  information  was  given, 
three  of  the  officers  and  about  twenty  members  were  dis- 
charged by  the  company.  This  caused  a  panic  in  the  organi- 
zation ;  and  the  railroad  employees  feared  to  visit  any  as- 
sembly, knowing  they  would  be  discharged  if  such  visits  were 
found  out.  The  company's  inspectors  and  superintendents 
followed  the  men  after  they  were  through  work  for  the  day 
to  see  where  they  went,  and  where  the  meetings  were  held, 
and  those  seen  attending  the  meetings  were  discharged. 
This  caused  the  assembly,  which  numbered  six  hundred,  to 
drop  to  thirteen  members  in  good  standing  in  three  months. 
These,  however,  determined  to  carry  on  the  cause  they  had 


384  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

espoused,  and  to  form  a  district  assembly  of  their  own.  In 
July,  1884,  a  district  charter  was  procured  from  the  Knights 
of  Labor.  At  first  it  was  impossible  to  procure  members, 
owing  to  the  terrible  boycott  of  the  companies.  But  in  Sep- 
tember, eleven  men  were  secured  to  start  the  first  assembly  in 
New  York.  This  assembly  prospered  until  January,  1885, 
when  forty  of  its  members  were  discharged  by  their  employ- 
ers, and  the  work  of  organization  was  checked. 

The  next  attempt  was  made  on  the  "  East  Side  "  where  three 
•drivers  met  in  a  basement,  knowing  well  what  would  become 
of  them  if  the  company  knew  they  had  joined  the  Knights  of 
Labor.  Working  cautiously,  they  secured  three  more  within 
a  week.  In  another  week,  these  six  secured  twenty-two,  who 
started  the  assembly  which  conducted  the  strike  on  the  Third 
Avenue  line.  The  second  assembly  on  the  "  East  Side " 
started  with  nine  members,  who  worked  so  carefully  that 
none  were  discharged  for  being  members  of  the  Order. 
Another  assembly  was  formed  on  the  "West  Side,"  in  July, 
1885.  These  four  assemblies  initiated  some  two  hundred 
members  each  weekly,  until,  by  January,  1886,  nearly  all  the 
horse-car  drivers  in  New  York  had  been  initiated.  After  this 
was  accomplished,  they  began  to  initiate  the  conductors,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  succeeded  in  getting  all  of  them. 

On  the  i8th  of  December,  1885,  the  first  list  of  grievances 
was  submitted  to  the  Third  Avenue  Company,  which  asked 
time  to  consider  it.  This  was  given,  and  the  answer  was 
satisfactory  to  the  men.  A  list  of  grievances  was  then  pre- 
sented to  the  Sixth  Avenue  Company.  This  was  entirely 
ignored,  the  company  refusing  to  recognize  the  organization. 
After  three  weeks,  the  company  failing  to  come  to  any  settle- 
ment, a  strike  was  ordered.  After  five  hours,  the  company 
consented  to  sign  the  agreement,  and  the  men  returned  to 
their  places.  The  Broadway  line  was  next  in  order,  and  after 
a  two  weeks'  delay  a  strike  was  ordered.  It  lasted  only  ten 
hours,  the  company  then  signing  the  agreement.  A  strike  on 
the  Fourth  Avenue  line  then  followed.  The  company  soon 
signed  the  agreement,  but  broke  it  in  two  weeks.  After  con- 
sultations for  five  days,  it  refused  to  make  another  agreement. 


ARROGANCE    OF    RAILROAD    OFFICIALS.  385 

The  men  gave  up  their  cars,  and  after  sixteen  hours  they 
made  the  first  agreement  that  has  been  made  with  any  rail- 
road company  in  Brooklyn  or  New  York.  The  smaller  com- 
panies readily  complied  with  the  demands  of  the  men. 

The  Dry  Dock  Company  was  considered  by  the  men  the 
hardest  and  most  selfish  corporation  in  New  York  city,  and 
they  therefore  left  it  until  the  last,  believing  that  others  who 
had  been  helped  by  the  Order  would  stand  by  it  in  the  trouble 
expected  with  this  company.  Being  unable  to  secure  even 
recognition  from  the  company,  a  strike  was  ordered,  which 
resulted  in  a  settlement  at  the  expiration  of  five  days.  The 
committee  from  the  Knights  then  waited  upon  President  Jacob 
Sharp,  of  the  Bleecker  Street  and  Twenty-third  Street  Rail- 
road. He  said  he  understood  how  to  run  a  railroad,  and  that 
he  did  not  propose  to  allow  any  labor  organization  to  dictate  to 
him  how  much  he  should  pay  his  employees,  nor  how  many 
hours  they  should  work.  A  strike  was  ordered,  which  in  one 
day  brought  Mr.  Sharp  to '  an  agreement.  This  was  to  take 
effect  in  ten  days.  He  failed  to  keep  it,  saying  he  was  mak- 
ing only  ten  per  cent,  profit,  and  that  he  would  work  his 
men  as  he  pleased,  without  regard  to  any  organization,  etc. 
The  police  commissioners  and  superintendent  of  police  had 
been  witnesses  to  the  first  agreement,  and  they  were  now  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  committee.  After  some  discussion,  the  origi- 
nal agreement  was  renewed. 

Little  or  no  trouble  was  experienced  in  Brooklyn  until  the 
Broadway  Company  was  reached.  Its  president  refused  to 
answer  verbally  the  questions  of  the  committee,  but  wrote  on 
a  sheet  of  paper  that  his  men  were  satisfied,  and  that  he  would 
stand  no  interference.  A  strike  was  therefore  ordered,  which, 
in  twenty  hours,  caused  the  president  to  send  for  the  commit- 
tee, with  whom  he  made  a  settlement.  After  some  three 
weeks  of  hard  work,  an  agreement  was  also  made  with  the 
Atlantic  Avenue  Company. 

During  all  this  time,  the  companies  were  doing  all  they 
could  to  weed  out  the  Knights  from  their  employees.  One 
company  had  its  men  take  an  oath  that  they  would  not  belong 
to  any  labor  organization.  The  Third  Avenue  Company 


386  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

failed  to  keep  the  agreement  made  in  December.  In  January 
and  February,  they  agreed  to  right  the  grievances  complained 
of,  but  failed  so  to  do.  The  men  presented  another  list,  April 
1 5th.  The  company  then  refused  to  treat  with  the  men 
at  all,  and  the  latter  appealed  to  the  executive  committee, 
who  tried  to  make  a  settlement ;  but  the  president  said  his 
board  of  directors  had  passed  a  resolution  not  to  increase 
wages,  nor  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  Knights  of  Labor 
or  any  other  organization.  There  were  fourteen  grievances 
presented  to  him, —  thirteen  relating  to  hours  of  labor,  and  one 
asking  for  the  discharge  of  six  men.  He  gave  only  the  last 
to  the  representatives  of  the  press,  saying  the  company  had 
granted  all  else  the  men  asked,  and  that  now  the  men  were 
determined  to  strike,  because  the  company  would  not  dis- 
charge their  old  and  trustworthy  employees.  This  strike, 
after  lasting  several  weeks,  was  settled. 

During  these  months  of  conflict,  the  cpmpanies  have  dis- 
charged about  one  hundred  men,  and  blacklisted  them,  so  that 
some  had  to  change  their  names  in  order  to  get  work.  The 
assemblies  have  become  so  large  that  they  have  been  split  up 
into  twenty-three,  with  a  membership  of  about  15,000,  in- 
cluding all  classes  employed  by  the  companies. 

In  all  of  the  cities  and  large  towns,  the  employees  of  the 
horse-railroad  companies  flocked  into  the  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  Strikes  were  entered  into  by  the  men 
before  they  had  learned  anything  of  the  objects  or  methods  of 
the  Order.  The  student  of  the  labor  question  will  understand 
why  these  men,  who  had  been  brutalized  by  long  hours  of 
labor,  should  so  suddenly  order  strikes,  and  that  these  strikes 
should  be  followed  by  acts  of  violence.  In  large  cities,  like 
New  York,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis,  there  is  a  large  class  of 
men  ready  to  join  in  any  tumult,  and  to  such  men  much  of 
the  blame  of  unlawful  deeds  is  due. 

PAINTERS'  UNION. 

Since  1856,  the  painters  of  this  country  have  been  strug- 
gling to  bring  about  an  organization  of  the  craft  that  would 
place  them  as  artisans  in  a  position  to  qommand  that  consid- 


PAINTERS'  UNION.  387 

eration  and  recognition  from  the  employing  class  that  at  this 
time  many  of  the  other  branches  of  labor  have  arrived  at. 

Previous  to  this,  scattered  associations  existed  throughout 
the  country,  and  these  only  numbering  from  one-third  to  one- 
half  of  the  men  working  at  the  trade  ;  the  same  state  of  affairs 
existing  to-day,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  larger  cities, 
where  more  perfect  organization  can  be  found. 

In  1859,  Jonn  Siney  travelled  through  the  country  in  his 
work  of  establishing  and  building  up  the  Moulders'  Interna- 
tional Union,  and  to  his  strong  appeals  to  workingmen,  urg- 
ing them  to  action,  was  largely  due  the  impetus  given  to 
many  of  the  trades  in  forming  new  unions  and  organizing  old 
ones  that  were  drooping. 

At  this  time  an  effort  was  made  to  found  a  national  union 
of  painters,  and  the  members  of  the  Philadelphia  association 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  matter.  A  convention  was  called 
and  formulated  laws  ;  but  after  a  brief  existence  the  move- 
ment perished,  —  it  being  found  impossible  to  persuade  the 
scattered  bodies  to  come  together  and  contribute  to  the 
sustenance  of  a  national  body. 

In  1871  the  New  York  Operative  and  Benevolent  Union, 
the  oldest  and  best-governed  union  of  the  trade  now  in  exist- 
ence, came  to  the  front,  and  the  Painters'  Grand  Lodge  was 
formed.  This  organization  extended  into  several  States,  and 
held  four  annual  conventions,  —  three  in  New  York  and  one 
in  Baltimore. 

At  this  period,  the  International  Workingmen's  Association 
was  making  rapid  strides,  and  many  of  the  branches  affiliated 
with  that  body.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  eight-hpur  agita- 
tion was  made.  The  painters  entered  into  the  movement  with 
great  zeal ;  and  the  first  demand  made  and  the  first  victory 
won  for  shorter  hours,  both  in  the  North  and  West,  entitle 
the  craft  to  the  honor  of  claiming  to  be  "  the  pioneers  of  the 
eight-hour  movement." 

The  grand  lodge,  as  far  as  its  means  would  warrant,  made 
every  effort  possible  to  extend  its  influence,  and  at  one  time 
things  looked  quite  cheering  ;  but  the  great  panic  that  came 
upon  the  country  at  this  time  —  causing  the  overthrow  of  so 


388  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

many  labor  organizations,  among  which  was  the  young  and 
struggling  association  of  the  painters  —  seemed  to  put  a 
damper  upon  them,  from  which  they  are  just  beginning  to 
recover.  In  a  great  many  localities,  the  Knights  of  Labor 
have  succeeded  in  annexing  the  local  painters'  unions  ;  but  it 
is  very  generally  urged  that  that  organization,  while  having 
noble  aims,  is,  with  its  complicated  machinery  and  its  thou- 
sands of  inexperienced  members  who  have  been  (contrary  to 
its  principles  and  the  object  of  its  founders)  admitted  to  its 
folds,  quite  too  tardy  in  action,  and  too  unwieldy  to  prop- 
erly legislate  for  any  single  craft. 

The  hope  is  now  revived  that  a  national  brotherhood  of 
painters  and  decorators  will  at  once  be  instituted,  with  some 
twenty  to  twenty-five  States  to  begin  with.  A  provisional 
national  committee  has  been  formed,  and  communication 
opened  writh  all  parts  of  the  country ;  letters  are  reaching 
us  from  all  points,  and  we  may  safely  promise  that,  after  May 
next,  will  be  found  a  new  army  of  workmen  organized  and  in 
the  field. 

NATIONAL    SILK    AND    FUR    HAT-FINISHERS '  ASSOCIATION. 

Hatters'  guilds  were  established  in  England,  many  years 
ago ;  from  them  the  trade  in  this  country  derived  its  funda- 
mental laws.  The  first  association  in  this  land  was  established 
in  Philadelphia,  in  1836 ;  in  New  York,  in  1845  ;  in  Boston, 
in  1850.  The  National  Association  was  formed  in  1854.  ^^ 
"locals"  have  their  own  laws,  subject  to  the  Central  or  Na- 
tional. They  have  no  strikes,  and,  as  their  work  is  piece- 
paid,  they  have  no  stated  hours  of  labor.  Their  relations  with 
employers  are  amicable.  Any  difficulty  arising  in  "locals"  is 
referred,  with  evidence  sent,  to  the  National  Board  of  Directors. 
Instructions  are  then  sent.  If  they  fail,  an  officer  is  sent  to  inter- 
view the  parties,  and  he  reports  to  the  board.  The  decision  is 
final.  In  the  principal  cities,  the  associations  are  protective 
as  well  as  benevolent.  A  strict  discipline  is  enforced  among 
them  regarding  their  duties.  Apprentices  are  registered,  and 
serve  four  years  prior  to  being  21.  They  must  learn,  at  least, 
two  of  the  three  branches,  and  must  maintain  good  moral 


FREE    FROM    STRIKES.  389 

character.  The  mission  of  the  association  is  to  assist  all 
legitimate  trades-unions  with  material  aid  when  struggling  for 
a  principle ;  to  carry  comfort  and  aid  to  our  distressed,  medi- 
cine and  proper  attendance  to  the  sick  ;  and  to  furnish  burial 
to  the  dead  wife  or  husband.  This  free  land  never  need  be 
ashamed  of  such  men  in  trades-unions.  In  fact,  they  consitute 
a  bulwark  of  its  ablest  defenders. 

NEW    YORK    STEREOTYPERS'    ASSOCIATION. 

This  union  was  instituted  September  8,  1863.  It  was 
started  with  about  forty  men.  The  trade  at  that  time  was  not 
very  extensive,  stereotyping  being  used  exclusively  on  book- 
work  and  occasionally  on  jobbing.  Now  all  the  daily  papers 
are  stereotyped,  and  books  are  electrotyped.  From  its  or- 
ganization up  to  the  present  day,  it  has  been  one  of  the  most 
successful  trades-unions  in  New  York,  seldom  if  ever  having 
trouble  in  the  shops,  free  from  strikes,  and  commanding  the 
highest  wages,  beside  having  an  admirable  apprenticeship 
law,  which  is  vigorously  enforced.  The  union  numbers  about 
125  members.  Wages  are,  for  day-hands,  $4  per  day;  for 
night-men,  $4  per  night.  As  a  general  rule,  the  men  are 
seldom  out  of  employment,  the  periods  of  trade  depression 
lasting  but  a  few  weeks.  The  organization  has  no  connec- 
tion with  any  national  or  international  union.  Many  of  this 
trade  are  members  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  a  movement 
is  being  made  to  found  a  National  Trade  District. 

JOURNEYMEN    TAILORS'    NATIONAL    UNION. 

The  Journeymen  Tailors'  National  Trades-Union  was  or- 
ganized in  Philadelphia,  in  1865,  and  continued  in  existence 
till  1886,  when  the  last  convention  was  held  in  that  city. 
It  collapsed  in  consequence  of  the  depression  of  business,  and 
its  resisting  reductions  during  those  years  ;  also  the  treasurer, 
John  T.  Walsh,  absconded  with  the  entire  funds,  of  which  he 
had  complete  control  in  1885.  He  disappeared  just  previous 
to  the  convention,  which  was  held  in  St.  Louis,  in  August, 
1885,  taking  with  him  about  $3,000.  During  the  union's  ex- 


390  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

istence,  J.  Worstadt,  of  New  York,  was  president,  and  S.  C. 
Hougendobler,  of  Philadelphia,  was  secretary.  In  1885,  the 
National  Union  was  composed  of  thirty-five  locals  and  about 
4,000  members.  The  monthly  dues  were  ten  cents,  and  it  paid 
$9  per  week  in  case  of  strike. 

The  Journeymen  Tailors'  National  Union  was  founded  at 
Philadelphia,  at  a  conference  called  in  the  fall  of  1883.  In 
August,  1884,  at  the  convention  held  in  Chicago,  the  present 
constitution  was  adopted.  It  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
an  executive  board  of  seven,  who  should  have  a  supervision 
over  all  strikes,  declared  in  favor  of  arbitration,  and  selected 
for  officers  John  B.  Lennon,  of  Denver,  Col.,  president; 
Joseph  Wilkinson,  of  New  York,  secretary,  and  Fred  Wer- 
ner, of  New  York,  treasurer.  It  also  provided  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  three  trustees  to  guard  the  funds,  together  with  a 
bond  from  the  treasurer.  In  1885,  the  convention  was  held  in 
Baltimore,  and  elected  for  officers,  Charles  H.  Sharp,  of 
Philadelphia,  president;  Joseph  Wilkinson  of  New  York, 
secretary;  Fred  Werner,  of  New  York,  treasurer. 

The  National  Union,  during  its  existence,  has  engaged  in 
a  number  of  strikes,  in  most  of  which  it  has  come  out  victori- 
ous ;  but  its  chief  good  has  been  in  preventing  strikes  and  re- 
ductions,— because  being  composed  of  most  all  the  first-class 
tailors  in  the  United  States,  an  employer  will  think  twice 
before  he  will  encounter  such  a  body  in  an  unjust  demand. 

THE  TELEGRAPHERS'  NATIONAL  UNION. 

The  telegraphers,  as  a  rule,  situated  as  they  are,  with  their 
fingers  on  the  arteries  of  intelligence  and  news,  have  been 
very  susceptible  to  the  agitation  in  the  labor  movement  and 
its  consequent  organization.  After  the  war,  a  great  number 
of  military  telegraph  operators  were  thrown  into  the  ranks  of 
the  commercial  operators,  causing  disarrangement  in  wages 
and  competition  for  places.  This,  in  connection  with  the  then 
existing  labor  agitation,  led  to  the  formation  of  a  Telegraph- 
ers' National  Union,  in  1870,  and  a  strike  of  short  duration 
in  1871,  which  resulted  unsuccessfully,  many  of  the  best  men 
leaving  the  profession,  as  it  is  termed  by  operators,  for  more 


TELEGRAPHERS  NATIONAL  UNION. 


391 


lucrative  methods  of  earning  a  livelihood.  This  was  followed 
by  a  short  local  strike  of  the  unions  in  San  Francisco  and 
Sacramento,  CaL,  which  comprised  nearly  all  the  operators 
in  the  State.  After  the  unsuccessful  termination  of  this  strike, 
organization  slumbered  till  the  fall  of  1882,  when  a  few  opera- 
tors in  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  formed  an  assembly  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  and  bore  the  expense  of  sending  organizers  to  the 
principal  Eastern  cities.  At  about  the  same  time  another 
union,  called  the  "  Brotherhood  of  Telegraphers,"  modelled  on 
somewhat  the  same  principles  as  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Engineers,  was  formed  in  the  West,  and  the  various 
local  bodies  soon  after  amalgamated,  under  the  name  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Telegraphers,  District  45,  Knights  of  Labor. 
In  May,  1883,  the  question  of  whether  a  strike  should  be  or- 
dered on  the  lines  of  all  the  telegraph  companies  was  sent  to 
all  the  local  bodies,  to  be  voted  upon,  the  result  being  an 
overwhelming  vote  in  the  affirmative.  Accordinglv,  July 
19,  1883,  the  word  was  sent  over  the  wires  in  cipher  from 
Pittsburgh,  by  John  Campbell,  District  Master  Workman, 
and  at  noon  all  the  commercial  operators,  all  over  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  left  their  keys,  and  marched  out  in  a  body 
wrhen  the  whistle — the  signal  agreed  on — was  blown.  Offices 
everywhere,  in  large  cities  and  in  country  hamlets,  were  left 
silent  and  deserted.  The  press  operators  and  the  broker 
operators  were  left  as  the  only  means  of  furnishing  telegraph 
accommodations,  and  perhaps  for  the  first  time  the  public 
realized  its  dependence  on  this  means  of  swift  intercommuni- 
cation. From  July  i9th  to  August  i7th,  nearly  a  month,  the 
contest  was  waged  between  the  men  and  the  companies,  with 
varying  success,  two  of  the  companies,  the  American  Rapid 
and  the  Bankers'  and  Merchants',  having  acceded  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  men,  which  were  a  general  fifteen  per  cent, 
advance  and  the  abolition  of  Sunday-work  without  pay,  and 
of  other  minor  grievances.  On  the  latter  date,  August  i7th, 
the  strike  was  declared  off"  and  the  men  ordered  back  to 
work  in  a  body,  by  an  order  from  the  same  source  which 
brought  them  out.  This  was  generally  obeyed,  and  the  men 
went  back  in  a  body,  most  of  them  obtaining  their  old  posi- 


392  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

tions.  The  companies  abolished  the  Sunday-work  without 
pay  ;  and,  as  all  were  paid  by  the  month,  the  month  was 
reckoned  at  26  or  27  days,  when  formerly  it  was  estimated  at 
30  or  31  days.  Where  a  man  was  paid  $60  for  performing 
30  days'  work,  he  now  receives  $60  for  performing  26  days' 
work.  It  cost  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company 
$500,000  extraordinary  expenses  and  an  estimated  loss  of 
receipts  of  nearly  $1,500,000  more,  and  the  company  has 
never  fully  recovered  from  the  blow,  —  followed,  as  it  was, 
by  the  active  competition  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Telegraph 
Company  and  other  companies.  There  were  some  individual 
cases  of  hardship  among  the  men,  but  they  were  compara- 
tively few  when  the  vast  aggregate  of  cases,  about  67,000  in 
all,  is  considered.  It  being  in  the  summer,  many  took  it  as  a 
summer  vacation,  which  few  had  enjoyed,  owing  to  the  great 
rush  due  to  the  opening  of  summer  offices  in  beaches  and 
watering-places.  The  companies,  since  this  strike,  seeing 
that  the  men  had  not  preserved  their  organization,  displaced 
as  rapidly  as  possible  the  higher-paid  men  by  a  cheaper 
grade,  until  the  average  was  brought  very  low.  The  oper- 
ators have  at  last,  however,  plucked  up  courage,  and  have 
secretly  reorganized,  until  they  have  an  organization  called 
the  "  Telegraphers'  Protective  Union,"  which  is  said  to  num- 
ber 8,000  operators  in  all. 

THE    NATIONAL    WOOD-CARVERS'    ASSOCIATION. 

This  association  was  organized  in  Philadelphia,  in  January, 
1883,  by  delegates  from  local  associations  in  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia,  New  Haven  and  Cincinnati..  The  New 
York  association  was  quite  an  old  organization,  and  had 
passed  through  many  vicissitudes  ;  the  others  were  compara- 
tively young.  A  convention  was  held  in  October  of  the  same 
year  at  Cincinnati,  when  the  original  constitution  was 
thoroughly  revised.  The  next  convention  was  held  in  New 
York,  October,  1884,  and  the  last  in  Boston,  October,  1885, 
when  the  plan  of  holding  biennial  conventions  was  adopted, 
instead  of  annually,  the  organization  having  become  so  per- 
fected that  annual  conventions  were  deemed  unnecessary. 


WOOL-HAT    FINISHERS. 


393 


At  the  present  time,  there  are  two  associations  in  New  York, 
and  one  each  in  Philadelphia,  Boston,  New  Haven,  Cincin- 
nati, St.  Louis,  and  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  The  association 
has  a  central  committee,  composed  of  the  recording  and  cor- 
responding secretary  in  one  person,  a  financial  secretary, 
treasurer  and  three  trustees,  elected  by  the  "local"  in  the 
places  elected  by  the  convention  for  the  location  of  the  com- 
mittee ;  and  this  committee  carries  on  the  business  of  the 
National  Association,  and  also  has  a  board  of  supervisors, 
located  in  another  city,  composed  of  five  members,  elected 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  central  committee,  who  have  a 
certain  control  over  the  central  committee,  and  power  to  sus- 
pend any  member  of  the  whole  central  committee  for  cause, 
and  order  a  new  election.  The  association  has  had  several 
strikes,  and  been  successful  in  all  until,  the  recent  eight-hour 
strikes,  which  were  not  entirely  successful.  It  adopted  the 
principle,  on  the  start,  that  a  strike  should  not  be  entered  into 
except  for  good  and  substantial  cause,  and  after  all  other 
means  had  been  exhausted  for  an  adjustment,  and  then  only 
if  there  was  a  reasonable  certainty  of  being  able  to  carry  it 
through  successfully.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  it  has 
been  successful  when  the  power  of  the  association  was  con- 
centrated upon  a  single  individual  or  corporation.  The 
present  central  committee  is  located  in  New  York,  where  the 
next  convention  is  to  be  held  in  October,  1877,  and  the  board 
of  supervisors  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 

WOOL-HAT  FINISHERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

The  date  of  organization  of  this  association,  or,  as  it  used 
to  be  called,  "Hatters'  Society,"  is  unknown  to  any  of  the 
oldest  hatters  living.  The  old  hatters  say  they  have  never 
heard  of  the  time  that  it  was  not  a  trades-union.  It  was  a 
well-organized  society  in  olden  times ;  and,  in  fact,  up  to 
1840,  all  hats  were  made  by  hand.  When  a  boy  was  put  to 
the  trade,  he  had  to  serve  so  long  a  time  at  each  branch  of 
the  business  that  when  out  of  his  time  he  could  take  the  fur 
or  wool  and  turn  it  out  a  hat.  In  a  large  number  of  the 
shops,  they  made  fur  and  wool-hats.  These  they  called 


394  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

"costume  shops,"  where  a  man  would  go  in,  and  leave  his 
order  for  a  single  hat  of  whatever  style  he  wanted.  At  this 
time,  the  makers,  blockers,  and  finishers  were  all  in  one 
society,  and  the  fur  and  wool-workers  recognized  each 
others'  card.  The  first  introduction  of  machinery  in  hatting 
was  got  up  by  Mr.  Messer,  one  of  the  oldest  hatters  now 
living,  being  now  eighty-seven  years  of  age.  He  got  up  a 
lathe  for  finishing  hats,  and  sent  the  papers  and  a  model  of 
the  lathe  to  Washington,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  letters- 
patent  on  his  invention.  But,  unfortunately  for  him,  the 
Patent  Office  was  burned  down,  and  with  it  the  model  and 
paper.  Shortly  after  this,  the  demand  for  hats  increased,  so 
that  the  Taylor  sizing-machine  and  fulling-mills  took  the 
place  of  hand-work.  A  man  sizing  or  making  hats  by  hand 
would  average  two  dozen  and  a  half  per  day,  while  a  fulling- 
mill  would  do  twenty-four  dozen,  —  thus  driving  all  hand- 
made work  out.  Probably  there  is  no  wool-shop  to-day 
where  they  make  hand-sized  hats.  There  are  still  a  few  of 
the  Taylor  machines  used  for  fine  vitriol-hats. 

With  the  introduction  of  machinery,  hand-blocking  has  in 
a  great  measure  passed  away. 

There  is  no  class  of  workmen  more  zealous  in  upholding 
trades-unions  than  hatters.  The  first  employer  that  tried  to 
break  up  the  union  was  James  H.  Prentice,  of  Brooklyn,  in 
1863.  He  fought  them  until  he  became  a  bankrupt.  The 
second  strike  of  importance  to  the  trade  was  in  John  T. 
Waring's  shop,  in  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  in  1866,  for  prices. 
This  was  a  hard  fight  on  both  sides.  John  T.  Waring  suc- 
ceeded, with  the  help  of  a  number  of  non-union  men  from 
Prentice's  shop,  in  Brooklyn,  in  making  his  shop  "foul,"  or 
independent.  In  1868,  the  independent  men  of  Waring's 
shop  became  dissatisfied  at  the  task  imposed  on  them  for  a 
day's  work ;  and,  when  one  of  the  men  remonstrated  to  one 
of  the  employers,  he  was  discharged.  The  other  men  — 
about  fifty  finishers  —  left  the  shop  in  'a  body.  The  "  fair  "  hat- 
ters in  Baldwin  &  Flagg's  tried  to  help  them  secure  a  fair 
settlement;  but  some  of  the  strikers  turned  traitors,  and 
Waring  was  again  able  to  run  his  shop.  About  twenty- 


TWO    IMPORTANT    STRIKES.  395 

five  of  the  strikers  joined  the  Hatters'  Union,  in  Yonkers. 
At  that  time,  local  societies  were  wholly  independent.  Sev- 
eral old  journeymen  at  Yonkers  —  among  whom  were  Robert 
Savage,  Patrick  Curran,  Thomas  Davis,  Thomas  Daley, 
and  Thomas  Nevins — met,  and  advised  the  forming  of  a 
national  organization. 

Letters  were  sent  to  all  local  secretaries,  asking  them  to  take 
action  on  bringing  all  local  associations  under  one  national 
association.  All  the  associations  were  in  favor  of  it,  and  on 
the  yth  day  of  April,  1869,  delegates  from  every  "fair"  shop 
in  the  State  met  in  Danbury,  Conn.,  and  organized  the 
National  Association,  by  electing  Mr.  F.  A.  Lewis,  president, 
and  D.  F.  Nolan,  national  secretary,  with  a  supervising 
committee  as  a  board  of  arbitration. 

A  preamble  was  adopted,  urging  the  necessity  of  organiza- 
tion to  elevate  the  trade,  and  to  protect  the  workmen  against 
the  encroachments  of  employers.  The  delegates  pledged 
themselves  to  strive  "  to  secure  to  us  our  rights  as  journeymen 
hatters,  and  to  our  employers  theirs  as  capitalists." 

The  growth  of  the  business  soon  caused  independent  or 
"foul"  shops  to  start  up,  and  there  was  more  or  less  antago- 
nism between  the  "fair"  and  "foul"  hatters.  In  1876,  an  or- 
ganization was  affected  among  the  independent  men,  who 
joined  the  "  fair  "  association  as  fast  as  they  proved  themselves 
worthy  and  so  desired.  At  the  Annual  Convention,  in  New 
York,  May  12,  1884,  it  was  voted  that  every  hat-shop  in  the 
country  be  made  "  fair,"  and  all  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  Wool  Hat-Finishers'  Association,  with  C.  Oat- 
man  Osborne  as  president,  and  Archibald  M.  Taylor  as 
national  secretary.  This  consolidation  pleased  the  employ- 
ers, for  their  interests  are  guarded  as  well  as  the  journey- 
men's. Two  important  strikes  occured  in  1884.  Lewis 
Tompkins,  of  the  Dutchess  Hat-Works,  at  Fishkill  Landing, 
found  fault  because  his  shop  was  made  "  fair,"  and  gave  his 
men  notice  that  he  should  employ  only  non-society  men.  His 
men  declined,  with  a  few  exceptions,  to  work  on  those  terms, 
and  have  been  out  ever  since.  The  other  strike,  the  last  of 
any  importance,  was  in  W.  B.  Thorn's  factory,  at  Haverhill, 


396  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Mass.,  on  December  9,  1884.  Mr.  Thorn  notified  his  fin- 
ishers of  a  ten  per  cent,  reduction,  to  take  effect  on  the  i5th. 
He  was  then  paying  ten  per  cent,  less  than  union  prices,  and 
monthly  payments.  When  he  advanced  money  to  his  help 
before  pay-day,  he  charged  five  per  cent,  a  month  interest. 
This  trouble  is  still  unsettled. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR. 

CAUSE  FOR  FOUNDING  THE  ORDER  —  GARMENT-CUTTERS'  ASSOCIATION— 
NEED  OF  SECRECY — FIRST  MEETING — NAMES  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  — 
TAKING  THE  OBLIGATION  —  NAME  ADOPTED  —  URIAH  S.  STEPHEN-S- 
ELECTION OF  OFFICERS  —  FIRST  OFFICERS  —  PURVEYOR  APPOINTED  — 
FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  URIAH  S.  STEPHENS  —  SHIP-CARPENTERS 
AND  CALKERS  JOIN  THE  ORDER  —  THE  FIRST  TWENTY  LOCALS  —  DIS- 
TRICT ASSEMBLY,  No.  i,  FOUNDED  —  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  FORMED, 
1878 — OFFICERS  ELECTED  —  SECOND  SESSION  OF  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  — 
ADDRESS  OF  GRAND  MASTER  WORKMAN  —  PROFOUND  SECRECY  —  THE 
FIVE  STARS  —  MAKING  THE  NAME  PUBLIC  —  THIRD  SESSION  —  AD- 
DRESS OF  THE  GRAND  MASTER  WORKMAN  —  ELECTION  OF  T.  V.  Pow- 
DERLY  AS  GRAND  MASTER  WORKMAN  —  FOURTH  SESSION — ADDRESS 

OF  T.  V.  POWDERLY  —  ABOLISH  THE  WAGE-SYSTEM  —  Co-OPERATION 

FIFTH  SESSION  —  SIXTH  SESSION — ATTEMPTS  TO  CREATE  DIVISION  — 
THE  BOYCOTT  —  BLACKLISTING  —  BRUTAL  TREATMENT  —  DEATH  OF 
URIAH  S.  STEPHENS  —  SEVENTH  SESSION  —  ADDRESS  OF  THE  GRAND 
MASTER  WORKMAN — STRIKES  DISCOUNTENANCED — POLITICAL  ACTION — 
HUNGARIANS  IN  THE  COKE  REGIONS — TRADE-MARK  OR  LABEL 
ADOPTED  IN  1884  —  NINTH  SESSION  —  PINKERTON'S  DETECTIVES  — 
QUESTION  OF  EDUCATION  —  ADDRESS  OF  THE  GENERAL  MASTER 
WORKMAN  —  SPECIAL  SESSION  —  RELATIONS  OF  TRADES-UNIONS  — 
STRIKES  —  ARBITRATION — CO-OPERATION  —  RAPID  GROWTH  OF  THE 
ORDER. 

PHILADELPHIA,  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  the  home 
of  Lippard  and  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Union,  has 
the  honor  of  being  the  birth-place  of  the  Noble  Order  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor. 

In  1862  or  1863,  the  garment-cutters  of  Philadelphia  organ- 
ized an  association,  and,  desiring  to  obtain  a  charter  from  the 
State,  added  to  the  usual  features  of  such  associations  that  of 
co-operation.  It  was,  practically,  a  trades-union,  and  had  for 
a  time  considerable  influence  in  the  trade. 

After  the  ups  and  downs,  failures  and  successes,  incident  to 
such  organizations,  it  was  finally  decided  to  dissolve  and 

(397) 


398  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

divide  the  fund  among  the  members,  which  amounted  to 
$89.79.  This  action  was  finally  taken  on  December  9, 
1869. 

For  a  year  and  a  half  prior  to  this  time,  the  formation  of 
a  secret  society  had  been  frequently  discussed. 

Every  movement  of  the  union  was  known  to  the  employers, 
and  members  were  constantly  in  danger  of  discharge ;  and, 
hence,  it  was  very  difficult  to  find  earnest  and  active  members 
who  were  willing  to  serve  on  committees.  The  attendance  at 
the  meetings  was  necessarily  very  small  at  times,  not  even 
a  quorum  being  present  to  transact  business. 

On  November  25,  1869,  a  committee  had  been  appointed 
to  prepare  a  plan  of  reorganization.  This  committee  made 
a  partial  report  at  the  meeting  on  the  evening  of  December  9. 
The  report  provoked  much  discussion,  the  committee  favoring 
the  formation  of  a  secret  society.  It  was  during  this  discussion 
that  the  motion  to  dissolve  was  made  and  carried. 

Immediately  upon  the  dissolution  of  the  meeting,  those 
who  were  in  favor  of  forming  a  secret  society  remained. 
Mr.  James  L.  Wright,  as  president  of  the  former  associa- 
tion, called  the  meeting  to  order,  and  appointed  Robert  C. 
Macauley  secretary,  he  having  occupied  that  position  in  the 
old  association. 

The  following-named  persons  then  agreed  to  form  a  secret 
society:  James  L.  Wright,  Robert  C.  Macauley,  Joseph  S. 
Kennedy,  William  Cook,  Robert  W.  Keen,  U.  S.  Stephens, 
James  M.  Hilsee,  David  Westcott,  W.  H.  Phillips,  Washing- 
ton Shields. 

The  chair  then,  on  motion,  appointed  Robert  W.  Keen, 
U.  S.  Stephens,  David  Westcott,  Joseph  S.  Kennedy,  James 
M.  Hilsee  as  a  committee  to  prepare  a  secret  work.  Mr. 
Wright,  the  chairman,  and  Mr.  Macauley,  the  secretary, 
were  added  to  the  committee.  The  meeting  then  adjourned 
to  meet  at  the  same  place,  —  America  Hose  Company's 
House,  Jane  street,  below  Seventh,  —  on  December  23,  1869. 

During  the  interval  between  the  time  of  adjournment  and 
the  time  fixed  for  the  next  meeting,  the  committee  met  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Joseph  S.  Kennedy,  on  Green  street,  above 


THE    KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR. 


399 


Ninth.  On  December  23d,  they  met  according  to  adjourn- 
ment. No  business  of  importance  was  transacted,  except  that 
they  resolved  to  meet  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Kennedy  on  De- 
cember 28th.  On  that  date  it  was  announced  that  they  had 
secured  a  hall  in  the  United  States  Fire-Engine  House,  Fourth 
street,  above  Vine,  for  $1.50  per  night.  The  Committee  on 
Ritual  made  a  partial  report,  and  the  following  persons  being 
present  subscribed  their  names  to  the  obligation  :  — 

Uriah  S.  Stephens,  James  L.  Wright,  Robert  C.  Macau- 
ley,  James  M.  Hilsee,  William  Cook,  Robert  W.  Keen, 
Joseph  S.  Kennedy. 

At  this  meeting,  upon  motion  of  Mr.  Wright,  the  new  or- 
ganization was  named  the  "  Knights  of  Labor."  And,  from 
this  humble  beginning,  in  the  house  of  a  garment-cutter,  within 
sound  of  the  old  "  Liberty  Bell "  that  rang  out  the  war  against 
the  monarchical  system  of  government,  and  proclaimed  liberty 
to  the  people,  there  went  forth  a  new  declaration  of  war 
against  the  monarchical  system  of  labor,  and  the  proclamation 
of  a  new  era  of  liberty,  of  peace  and  plenty. 

Here,  in  this  house^  these  seven  men  founded  an  organiza- 
tion in  whose  power  now  rests,  perhaps,  the  destinies  of  the 
Republic.  Under  the  standard  that  they  lifted  at  this  Christ- 
mas season  of  1869,  —  a  standard  of  peace  and  good-will  to 
all  good-willing  men,  —  a  peaceful  army  of  a  million  workers 
now  rally.  These  heretofore  unknown  men,  who  stood  the 
jeers  of  their  fellows  in  the  early  days  of  the  organization, 
now  bear  modestly  the  accumulating  honors  due  their  long- 
continued  years  of  honorable  service.  One  of  them,  the 
first  Grand  Master  Workman,  whose  words  were  of  wisdom, 
unswerving  fealty,  and  untiring  effort,  has  passed  away,  his 
body  lies  in  an  unmarked  grave  in  the  Odd  Fellows'  Ceme- 
tery in  Philadelphia,  near  the  last  resting-place  of  George 
W.  Lippard,  the  founder  of  the  "  Brotherhood  of  the  Union." 
Uriah  S.  Stephens  is  not  forgotten.  His  pictured  face  looks 
down  from  the  walls  of  the  assembly-rooms  upon  the  thou- 
sands who  are  building  a  monument  of  gratitude  to  his 
memory,  not  in  crumbling  granite,  but  in  the  building  of  an 
organization  seeking  the  ends  he  sought,  and  that  shall,  if 


4OO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

true  to  its- mission,  witness  the  culmination  of  his  hopes  ;  but, 
as  the  heart-love  of  the  people  seeks  expression  by  outward 
signs,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  small  contributions 
of  the  many  shall  lift  a  shaft  ever  pointing  upward,  on  whose 
entableted  sides  the  people  of  the  future  shall  read  the  story 
of  a  peaceful  revolution. 

The  next  meeting  convened  in  the  new  hall,  on  Thursday, 
December  3Oth, — Thursday  having  been  chosen  as  the  regu- 
lar meeting  night,  from  which  custom  Local  Assembly  i  has 
never  departed.  At  this  meeting,  six  candidates  were  pro- 
posed and  elected. 

At  the  meeting  of  January  6,  1870,  David  Westcott,  who  was 
present  at  the  first  meeting,  subscribed  to  the  obligation,  and 
the  titles  of  the  several  offices  were  fixed,  and  five  more  candi- 
dates were  elected.  At  this  meeting,  Mr.  Stephens  took  the 
chair  for  the  first  time,  Mr.  Wright  having  served  in  that 
capacity  up  to  this  date. 

On  January  13,  1870,  the  following  officers  were  elected, 
and  took  their  several  positions  for  the  ensuing  term  :  Vener- 
able Sage,  Past-Officer,  James  L.  Wright;  Master  Workman, 
U.  S.  Stephens;  Worthy  Foreman,  Robert  W.  Keen; 
Worthy  Inspector,  William  Cook ;  Unknown  Knight,  Joseph 
S.  Kennedy.  On  January  27th,  the  following  additional 
nominations  were  made  :  for  Recording  Secretary,  John  W. 
Breen ;  Financial  Secretary,  G.  W.  Cook ;  Treasurer, 
Joseph  S.  Kennedy.  On  February  3d,  the  office  of  Statisti- 
cian was  created,  and  Robert  C.  Macauley  was  elected  to  that 
position.  The  officers  nominated  at  the  previous  meeting 
were  elected,  and  took  their  respective  stations. 

The  affairs  of  the  assembly  ran  along  smoothly,  working 
in  the  utmost  secrecy,  —  the  name  of  the  organization  or  its 
object  never  being  divulged.  It  was  the  habit  of  the  assem- 
bly to  meet  immediately  after  working-hours,  —  a  custom  that 
still  prevails  in  some  garment-cutters'  assemblies  at  this  date. 
It  was  this  practice  that  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  office 
of  purveyor,  so  that  refreshments  might  be  served  to  the 
members ;  and,  as  it  was  the  custom  of  the  purveyor  to  carry 
a  large  teapot  always  in  the  same  direction  and  on  the  same 


THE    TEAPOT    SOCIETY. 


401 


evening  of  the  week,  the  assembly  became  known  as  the 
"Teapot  Society."  This  pot  was  carried  to  the  meeting-room 
for  the  purpose  of  preparing  coffee ;  for  these  men  were  not 
addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

The  dissolution  of  the  old  society  created  quite  a  commo- 
tion among  the  garment-cutters  of  the  city,  who  immediately 
set  about  reorganizing  their  association.  They  were  quite 
successful,  attaining  a  membership  of  seven  or  eight  hundred. 
Those  who  joined  the  Knights  of  Labor  did  not  again  join  the 
Garment-cutters'  Association.  A  rivalry  sprang  up  among 
the  garment-cutters  ;  and  the  reorganized  association  passed  a 
resolution  forbidding  any  of  its  members  joining  any  other 
association,  open  or  secret,  of  their  branch  of  trade,  under 
pain  of  expulsion.  Hence,  when  one  of  their  number  ab- 
sented himself  from  the  meetings  and  neglected  to  pay  his 
dues,  he  was  suspended,  and  an  obituary  notice  inserted  after 
his  name  in  the  records,  "Gone  to  join  the  Teapot  Society." 
The  rival  association  continued  in  existence  for  four  years, 
when  it  finally  collapsed,  and  to-day  is  known  as  a  local 
assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

The  little  band  continued  to  initiate  members,  and  from 
time  to  time  added  to  its  ritual,  which  was  not  completed  for 
a  long  time  afterwards. 

The  first  quarterly  report  showed  a  membership  of  twenty- 
eight,  with  the  finances  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

In  the  early  part  of  May,  1870,  public  meetings  of  the  gar- 
ment-cutters were  inaugurated,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  membership,  by  discussing  questions  of  interest  to  the 
trade ;  but  the  name  of  the  new  Order  was  carefully  kept 
secret. 

These  meetings  had  a  beneficial  effect,  as  the  membership 
at  the  time  of  the  second  quarterly  report  was  forty-three,  an 
increase  of  fifteen  ;  and  the  finances  were  still  in  good  condi- 
tion. The  third  quarterly  report  showed  an  increase  of  nine, 
—  fifty-two  members  then  being  in  good  standing. 

On  October  5,  1870,  occurred  the  first  death, — that  of 
Henry  A.  Senning,  he  having  died  on  that  day,  aged  35. 

On  December  29,  1870,  the  second  election  occurred,  and 

(26) 


4O2  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

all  the  officers  were  re-elected.  The  first  annual  report,  of 
January  5,  1871,  showed  a  membership  of  sixty-nine  in  good 
standing. 

At  the  meeting  of  January  12,  1871,  Mr.  Stephens,  Master 
Workman,  made  the  following  address  to  the  Assembly  :  — 

A  cycle  has  ended, — the  first  in  our  history, —  and  bears  its  record  of 
labors  and  toils  to  the  dead  sea  of  the  past.  During  the  year  God's  toilers 
have  worked  and  wept  as  of  yore;  the  brain  has  throbbed  and  the  heart  has 
beat  for  wrongs  they  were  powerless  to  right.  Busy  industry  has  struggled 
to  heap  in  the  lap  of  the  world's  commerce  the  usual  amount  of  values,  — 

"Rich  in  model  and  design; 
Harvest-tool  and  husbandry, 
Loom  and  wheel,  and  engin'ry, 
Secrets  of  the  sullen  mine, 
Steel,  and  gold,  and  corn,  and  wine, 
Fabric  rough  or  fairy  fine, 
Sunny  tokens  of  the  line, 
Polar  marvels  and  a  feast 
Of  wonders  out  of  West  and  East." 

And  while  the  toiler  is  thus  engaged  in  creating  the  world's  value,  how 
fares  his  own  interest  and  well-being?  We  answer,  "Badly,"  for  he  has  too 
little  time,  and  his  faculties  become  too  much  blunted  by  unremitting  labor 
to  analyze  his  condition  or  devise  and  perfect  financial  schemes  or  reforma- 
tory measures.  The  hours  of  labor  are  too  long,  and  should  be  shortened.  I 
recommend  a  universal  movement  to  cease  work  at  five  o'clock  Saturday  after- 
noon, as  a  beginning.  There  should  be  a  greater  participation  in  the  profits 
of  labor  by  the  industrious  and  intelligent  laborer.  In  the  present  arrange- 
ments of  labor  and  capital,  the  condition  of  the  employee  is  simply  that  of 
wage-slavery, — capital  dictating,  labor  submitting;  capital  superior,  labor 
inferior. 

This  is  an  artificial  and  man-created  condition,  not  God's  arrangement  and 
order;  for  it  degrades  man  and  ennobles  mere  pelf.  It  demeans  those  who 
live  by  useful  labor,  and,  in  proportion,  exalts  all  those  who  eschew  labor  and 
live  (no  matter  by  what  pretence  or  respectable  cheat  —  for  cheat  it  is)  without 
productive  work. 

Living  by  and  on  the  labor  of  others  is  dishonest,  and  should  be  branded  as 
such.  Labor  and  capital  should  treat  each  other  as  equals. 

Let  us  hint  to  the  world,  in  broad  and  unmistakable  terms,  our  demands. 

Where  lies  the  fault  that  this  condition  of  things  exists?  Mainly  with  our- 
selves. Disjointed  and  inharmonious,  no  concerted  action,  not  even  much 
mutual  respect.'  Prone  to  defer  to  wealth,  to  respect  pretension  and  bow 
to  assumption,  instead  of  boldly  stripping  it  of  its  mask  and  exposing  its  hid- 
eousness. 

What  is  the  remedy?  Cultivate  friendship  among  the  great  brotherhood  of 
toil;  learn  to  respect  industry  in  the  person  of  every  intelligent  worker;  un- 
mask the  shams  of  life  by  deference  to  the  humble  but  useful  craftsman  ;  beget 


MASTER  WORKMAN'S  ADDRESS. 


4°3 


concert  of  action  by  conciliation,  confidence  by  just  and  upright  conduct 
toward  each  other;  mutual  respect  by  dignified  deportment;  and  wise  coun- 
sels by  what  of  wisdom  and  ability  God,  in  his  wisdom  and  goodness,  has  en- 
dowed us  with. 

In  our  own  sphere  and  circle  much  has  been  done  in  the  year  that  is  passed ; 
much  preparation  before  the  foundation  could  be  laid,  much  material  to 
be  gathered.  A  retrospect  of  the  year  is  satisfactory.  Several  have  been 
steadied  in  their  situations,  some  have  been  changed  to  better,  and  many  have 
been  assisted  to  vacancies  they  would  not  have  known  of.  All  this,  and  more, 
has  been  done,  and  all  has  tended  toward  the  central  point  of  keeping  the  re- 
muneration up  to  a  satisfactory  standard.  Influences  are  at  work  to  reduce 
the  standard.  This  must  be  watched  vigilantly,  and,  if  necessary,  an  effort 
must  be  made  to  counteract  the  evil,  by  public  open  work,  by  blows  in  the 
right  place,  that  will  tell  and  hurt;  for  all  evils  have  their  vulnerable  points, 
and  can  be  reached.  There  is  work  for  the  ready  hand  and  willing  heart;  an 
abundant  harvest  awaits  the  reaper. 

Let  us  be  aroused.  Labor's  interests  have  suffered  long  enough,  because 
the  interested  ones  have  neglected  to  take  care  of  them ;  unwise  counsels  have 
too  long  prevailed ;  suspicion  and  distrust  have  too  long  kept  us  apart.  Let 
us  reason  together,  and  let  our  reasonings  bear  the  fruit  of  action. 

Knighthood  must  base  its  claims  for  labor  upon  higher  grounds  than  par- 
ticipation in  the  profits  and  emoluments  and  a  lessening  of  the  hours  of 
toil  and  fatigues  of  labor.  These  are  only  physical  effects,  and  objects  of  a 
grosser  nature,  and,  although  imperative,  are  but  stepping-stcnes  to  a  higher 
cause,  a  nobler  nature.  The  real  and  ultimate  reasons  must  be  based  upon 
the  more  exalted  and  divine  nature  of  man,  —  his  high  and  noble  capabilities 
for  good.  Excess  of  labor  and  small  pay  stunts,  and  blunts,  and  degrades 
those  god-like  faculties,  until  the  image  of  God,  in  .which  he  is  created  and 
intended  by  his  great  Creator  to  exhibit,  are  scarcely  discernible,  and  igno- 
rance boldly  asserts  that  it  does  not  exist. 

Time  will  not  permit  us  to  reason  out  the  details,  or  enforce  them  by  argu- 
ment, but  we  must  leave  their  development  to  your  own  thought  and  investi- 
gation. To  God  and  your  own  best  judgment  I  leave  the  cause.  Prophecy 
and  inspiration  assert  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  principle. 

In  March,  1871,  Messrs.  Stephens  and  Breen  began  a 
correspondence  with  the  coal-miners  and  nail-cutters  of  Penn- 
sylvania,—  this  being  the  first  outside  work.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  1872,  Robert  C.  Macauley  was  called  to  the  chair, 
as  Master  Workman,  Mr.  Stephens  declining  a  nomination  for 
a  third  term.  The  ship-carpenters  and  calkers  employed  in 
Cramp's  ship-yard,  on  the  Delaware,  true  to  the  traditions 
of  their  craft  as  pioneers,  organized  the  first  local  assembly, 
outside  of  Assembly  No.  i,  in  1872.  Prior  to  this,  Assembly 
No.  i  had  initiated  some  plumbers,  paper-hangers,  and  paint- 
ers, admitting  them  into  the  original  assembly.  They,  how- 


404  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ever,  were  termed  "sojourners,"  not  paying  any  dues  nor  being 
allowed  to  vote.  They  were  initiated,  that  they  might  work 
for  organization  in  their  respective  crafts ;  but,  up  to  the 
organization  of  Local  Assembly  No.  2,  attempts  at  organiza- 
tion outside  the  original  assembly  were  unsuccessful.  After 
Local  Assembly  No.  2  had  been  organized,  the  Order 
spread  rapidly, — no  less  than  twenty  assemblies  being  or- 
ganized in  Philadelphia  during  that  year,  as  follows  :  No.  3, 
Shawl-weavers;  No.  4,  Carpet-weavers;  No.  5,  Riggers: 
No.  6,  Carpet-weavers  ;  No.  7,  Stone-masons  ;  No.  8, 
Bag-makers ;  No.  9,  Machinists  and  Blacksmiths  ;  No.  ipt 
Stone-cutters;  No.  n,  Wool-sorters ;  No.  12,  Machinists 
and  Blacksmiths;  No.  13,  Tin-plate  and  Sheet-iron  Work- 
ers;  No.  14,  Steel-makers;  No.  15,  Pattern-makers  and 
Moulders;  No.  16,  Shopsmiths ;  No.  17,  Machinists,  Black- 
smiths, and  Boiler-makers  ;  No.  18,  House-carpenters,  Ship- 
joiners,  Millwrights,  and  Cabinet-makers  ;  No.  19,  Bricklay- 
ers ;  No.  20,  Gold-beaters. 

The  first  local  assembly  to  be  organized  outside  of  Phila- 
delphia was  No.  28,  composed  of  gold-beaters  of  New  York 
City.  The  second  local  organized  outside  ,of  Philadelphia 
was  No.  30,  Ship-carpenters  and  Calkers,  of  Wilmington, 
Del.  The  third  was  No.  31,  of  the  same  craft,  in  Camden, 
N.  J.  This  assembly  is  now  known,  however,  as  a  shoe- 
makers' assembly. 

Up  to  this  time  the  ritual  was  neither  written  nor  printed, 
the  officers  of  Local  Assembly  No.  i  being  compelled  to 
found  new  locals,  and  fill  the  offices  until  their  own  officers 
had  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  secret  work  to  con- 
duct the  meetings.  The  organization  spread  so  rapidly  that 
the  Committee  on  Ritual  was  appointed  Committee  on  the 
Good  of  the  Order,  and  to  them  all  matters  of  dispute  arising 
in  the  local  assemblies  were  submitted  for  final  adjudication. 
This  committee  was  practically  the  first  district  assembly  in 
the  Order,  performing  all  the  functions  of  a  district  assembly. 
This  work,  however,  became  too  arduous,  and  the  committee 
began  to  construct  a  ritual  for  a  higher  body,  to  be  known  as 
a  "  district  assembly." 


DISTRICT    ASSEMBLIES. 


405 


A  communication  was  sent  from  Local  Assembly  No.  i  to 
the  various  locals  then  in  existence,  notifying  them  to  send 
delegates  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  district  assembly. 
These  delegates  met  on  Christmas  Day,  1873,  and  founded 
District  Assembly  No.  i.  The  committee  of  Local  Assembly 
No.  i  thereupon  surrendered  all  its  powers  to  the  district  assem- 
bly. This  district  assembly  did  not  receive  a  charter,  however, 
until  August  19,  1878,  when  all  district  assemblies  formed  prior 
to  that  date  received  charters  from  the  General  Assembly. 
The  charter  of  District  Assembly  No.  i  is  dated  back  to 
Christmas  Day,  1873,  to  legalize  what  had  been  done  by  that 
body  up  to  the  foundation  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  following  local  assemblies  composed  District  Assembly 
No.  i  at  the  time  of  its  formation:  No.  i,  Garment-cutters; 
No.  17,  Blacksmiths  and  Boiler-makers;  No.  23,  Carpet- 
weavers;  No.  31,  Ship-carpenters  and  Calkers,  Camden, 
N.  J.  ;  No.  53,  Cigar-makers,  Philadelphia;  No.  64,  Shoe- 
makers, Philadelphia;  No.  84;  No.  116,  Stove-mounters, 
Philadelphia;  No.  131,  Bolt-makers,  Philadelphia;  No.  260, 
Train-hands,  Philadelphia;  No.  262,  Philadelphia. 

The  continued  increase  in  membership  and  in  the  number 
of  local  assemblies  was  such,  that  before  the  end  of  the  year 
1877  new  district  assemblies  had  been  organized,  as  follows : 
District  Assembly  No.  2,  in  New  Jersey;  District  Assembly 
No.  3,  in  Pittsburgh;  District  Assembly  No.  4,  in  Reading, 
Penn.  ;  District  Assembly  No.  5,  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  ;  Dis- 
trict Assembly  No.  6,  in  New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  District  Assem- 
bly No.  7,  in  Akron,  O.  ;  District  Assembly  No.  8,  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.  ;  District  Assembly  No.  9,  in  West  Elizabeth, 
Penn. ;  and  others,  to  the  number  of  at  least  fifteen. 

Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  1878,  the  various  branches 
of  the  Order  had,  by  tacit  consent,  regarded  District  Assembly 
No.  i  as  the  head  of  authority ;  and  that  district  assembly, 
by  its  officers,  issued  a  call  for  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
the  several  district  assemblies,  which  was  accordingly  held 
at  Reading,  Penn.,  January  i,  1878,  and  a  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Order  was  formed,  with  a  constitution,  and  three 
salaried  officers. 


406  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Uriah  S.  Stephens  was  chosen  temporary  chairman,  but 
was  called  away  by  business  before  the  end  of  the  session, 
which  lasted  four  days,  yet  in  his*  absence  he  was  chosen 
Grand  Master  Workman.  Ralph  Beaumont,  of  Elmira,  N.  Y. , 
was  chosen  Grand  Worthy  Foreman;  Charles  H.  Litchman, 
of  Marblehead,  Mass.,  Grand  Secretary;  John  G.  Laning,  of 
Clifton,  West  Va.,  Grand  Assistant  Secretary;  and  Thomas 
M.  Gallagher,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Grand  Treasurer,  for  the 
ensuing  year. 

Among  the  delegates  to  this  First  General  Assembly  was 
T.  V.  Powderly,  representing  District  Assembly  5,  of  Scran- 
ton,  Penn.  The  number  of  this  District  Assembly  was  after- 
wards changed  to  16.  There  were  present,  delegates  from 
seven  States,  representing  the  following  trades,  viz.  :  Gar- 
ment-cutters, miners,  shoemakers,  machinists,  locomotive 
engineers,  stationary  engineers,  glass-workers,  moulders, 
printers,  coopers,  blacksmiths,  boiler-makers,  nail-packers, 
teachers,  and  carpenters. 

The  Declaration  of  Principles  adopted  at  this  convention 
contained  fifteen  planks,  which  are  the  first  fifteen  in  the 
present  Declaration  of  Principles. 

The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Constitution,  who  prob- 
ably had  this  in  charge,  was  Robert  Schilling,  of  Ohio, 
who  was  president  of  the  Labor  Congress  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  in  1874.  The  convention  adopted  a  constitution  for 
the  General  Assembly,  District  Assemblies,  and  Local  As- 
semblies. 

A  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  called  to 
meet  at  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  June  6,  1878,  an  emergency 
having  arisen  demanding  consideration.  There  were  present 
delegates  from  six  States,  and  they  were  in  session  two  days. 

The  next  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  held  Janu- 
ary 14-17,  1879,  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  at  which  delegates  from 
thirteen  States  were  present.  The  Order  had  .spread  into  the 
Southern  States,  and  as  far  as  California, 

The  Grand  Master  Workman,  U.  S.  Stephens,  referred  to 
the  fact  that  great  political  elections  had  recently  been  held, 
but  no  real  politics  had  been  settled.  He  said  :  — 


G.  M.  w.  STEPHENS'  ADDRESS.  407 

The  few  are  millionaires ;  the  many  struggle  for  bread.  Where,  if  not 
here  in  this  Western  World,  shall  the  patriotism  and  statesmanship  be  found 
to  preserve  the  race  from  destruction  ?  Neither  the  bayonet,  nor  bullets  from 
Gatling-guns,  can  save  it.  Justice  to  all  alone  can  do  it. 

Failing  in  that,  these  American  governments  will  fail ;  and  over  our 
institutions  the  dust  of  ages  will  fall  like  Pompeian  ashes,  and  we  shall  live 
only  in  the  misrepresentations  of  history.  But  your  presence  here  gives  us 
life  and  hope.  It  means  a  waking  up  to  the  historical  facts  :  that  great  wealth 
means  certain  corruption  at  the  fountain  of  law;  that  limited  intelligence  is 
suborned  to  vlllany,  and  the  best  genius  of  our  time  is  perverted  to  the  base- 
ness of  unprincipled,  and  yet,  after  all,  bankrupt  greed.  Coming,  as  you  do, 
from  all  over  this  continent,  shows  the  magnitude  of  the  awakening.  It  fore- 
tells the  blessing  of  Heaven  upon  those  who  help  themselves.  It  secures  the 
coming  "  to  the  fore"  at  an  early  day,  in  industrial,  commercial,  political  and 
social  life  of  those  principles  and  legal  enactments  that  shall  secure  the 
physical  well-being,  the  mental  development  and  the  moral  elevation  of  man- 
kind. 

He  continued :  — 

During  the  year  that  is  past,  a  large  increase  and  prosperity  have  attended 
our  efforts  to  spread  our  already  widely-extended  Brotherhood,  when  we  take 
into  consideration  that  the  means  we  had  at  our  command  were  so  limited, 
and  the  work  to  be  accomplished  scattered  over  a  whole  continent. 

Concerning  the  amalgamation  of  entire  callings,  he  said  :  — 

During  the  year,  some  trades  and  callings  have  so  nearly  accomplished 
the  complete  organization  of  their  entire  branch  all  over  the  continent, 
within  our  fraternity,  that  but  little  remains  for  them  to  do  in  the  work.  The 
callings  named  are  now  in  condition  to  maintain  the  standard  of  wages,  and 
the  standard  amount  of  work  or  production  that  constitutes  a  fair  and  just 
day's  work  (this  latter,  in  many  trades,  often  entailing  greater  evils  and  engen- 
dering more  dissatisfaction  and  bitterness  than  the  former),  or  of  restoring 
standards  that  have,  through  cutting-down,  been  lost,  or  by  the  adoption  of 
machinery  unreasonable  enlarged. 

He  suggested  the  issuing  of  an  address  to  the  trades  asso- 
ciations of  the  continent,  calling  their  attention  to  the  benefits 
of  amalgamation  and  affiliation  with  their  great  brotherhood, 
and  the  evils  of  isolated  effort  or  association.  He  con- 
tinued :  — 

We  must  show  ourselves  mightier  than  the  difficulties  confronting  us;  and, 
when  we  succeed  in  doing  that,  the  world  will  respect  us,  and  we  shall  respect 
ourselves. 

He  suggested  that  the  ensuing  year  be  especially  devoted 
to  welding  all  labor  organizations  into  one  grand  consoli- 


408  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

dated  body,  and  also  called  attention  to  the  importance  of 
teaching  and  organizing  co-operation  by  the  district  as- 
semblies. 

The  secretary,  in  his  report,  called  attention  to  the  neces- 
sity of  taking  some  action  to  preserve  a  history  of  the  origin 
of  the  Order,  as  from  this  history  an  address  could  be  pre- 
pared for  the  members  of  the  Order,  and  be  the  means  of 
adding  largely  to  the  membership. 

At  this  session,  district  assemblies  were  granted  the  privi- 
lege of  making  the  name  of  the  Order  public,  upon  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  the  delegates  of  the  district. 

Mr.  Stevens  was  re-elected  Grand  Master  Workman  ;  Mr. 
Litchman,  Grand  Secretary ;  James  McGinness,  of  Ken- 
tucky, was  elected  Grand  Assistant  Secretary ;  and  William 
H.  Singer,  of  Missouri,  Grand  Treasurer. 

The  third  regular  session  of  the  General  Assembly  con- 
vened at  Chicago,  111.,  September  2,  1879,  anc^  continued  in 
session  five  days. 

In  his  opening  remarks  at  this  convention,  Grand  Master 
Workman  Stephens  said  :  — 

The  entire  history  of  the  world,  in  every  age  and  in  every  country,  as  un- 
varying as  the  laws  that  govern  the  universe,  demonstrates  the  fact  that  the 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  condition  of  mankind  is  governed  entirely 
by  the  conditions  that  surround  the  productive  toiler,  and  marks  the  progress 
of  a  people,  or  indicates,  unerringly,  the  downfall  of  a  nation.  This  should 
be  the  only  criterion  of  a  statesman,  the  guide  of  the  political  economist,  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  philanthropist.  Sad  experience  assures  us  no  relief  can 
be  expected  from  those  elevated  by  the  polluted  channels  of  party  politics  to 
positions  that  should  be  held  by  patriotic  and  enlightened  statesmen ;  or  the 
stilted  ignorance  of  political  economy,  as  usually  taught  in  the  schools;  and 
even  the  philanthropist  is  more  or  less  blinded  by  the  glamour  and  misrepre- 
sentations promulgated  by  concentrated- wealth.  If  ever  relief  is  had,  or 
simple  justice  secured  to  the  masses,  it  will  have  to  come  through  the  efforts 
of  themselves  alone.  To  this  fact  is  owing  the  existence  of  Knighthood.  As 
nature  abhors  a  vacuum,  so  at  the  call  of  the  strongly-felt  want  of  a  working 
world's  saviour,  this  brotherhood  sprang  into  existence,  and  espoused  the  cause 
of  oppressed  humanity.  No  other  organization  in  existence  proposes  to  meet 
this  great  want,  or  directs  its  efforts  to  this  mighty  work.  To  this  session  all 
eyes  are  turned  in  expectant  hope,  and  upon  it  mainly  depends  the  issue  of  an 
upward  trend  of  the  toiling  millions  towards  a  higher  and  a  better  plane  of 
existence,  as  "God,  the  Father  of  all,"  intended  should  be  the  condition  of 
His  children,  or  a  downward  drifting  toward  a  fathomless  abyss  of  pinching 
poverty,  and  to  the  untold  millions  hopeless,  unrequited  toil  and  serfdom  to 


STEPHENS     FAREWELL. 


409 


combined  wealth,  —  the  landless,  disinherited  life  of  the  Eastern  pariah.  Let 
us.  therefore,  give  a  calm  consideration,  a  cool,  collected  wisdom,  and  the  very 
best  efforts  of  our  united  intellect,  to  each  measure  presented,  so  as  to  perfect 
the  best  methods  possible  for  advancing  the  objects  we  desire  and  humanity 
so  much  needs. 

He  again  called  attention  to  the  unification  and  extension 
of  the  labor  movement.  In  correspondence  which  he  had 
with  labor  men,  he  says  :  — 

The  fact  appears  to  be  established  tnat  all  the  leading  minds  and  close 
thinkers  among  the  union  men  in  all  branches  are  ready  for  the  consumma- 
tion, and  that  nothing  really  beneficial  can  be  accomplished  until  a  complete 
unification  is  had.  The  time  has  fully  come  when  all  trade  and  labor  organi- 
zations of  every  description  should  be  united.  The  interest  of  each  would  be 
greatly  enhanced  thereby. 

He  calls  attention  to  the  frequent  attempts  being  made  all 
over  the  country  to  break  down  the  ten-hour  standard,  and 
enforce  longer  hours,  which  he  claimed  was  done  to  affect  the 
eight-hour  movement,  to  which  he  gave  encouragement,  and 
urged  active  exertion  and  agitation  to  bring  public  sentiment 
up  to  a  point  that  would  successfully  carry  the  principle  of 
eight  hours  through  the  ballot-box. 

He  concluded  his  remarks  as  follows  :  — 

The  moment  has  come  to  say  farewell,  and  to  surrender  into  the  hands  of 
others  the  trust  you  have  confided  to  me  since  the  organization  of  the  General 
Assembly.  May  I  not  embrace  the  opportunity  to  say  that  my  heart  and  soul 
are  bound  up  in  the  success  of  that  which  has  been  so  ably  planned,  so 
patiently  cultivated,  and  so  zealously  defended.  And  when  the  closing 
years  of  my  life  are  passing  away,  it  will  cause  my  pulses  to  beat  with  a 
quicker  throb  to  recall  the  duties  of  this  trust,  and  to  reflect  that  perhaps,  in 
some  small  degree,  the  manner  in  which  those  duties  were  performed  aided  in 
gaining  the  success  which  I  know  will  surely  come. 

Up  to  this  time,  700  local  assemblies  had  been  organized, 
but  only  102  reported.  There  were  about  5,000  members  in 
good  standing,  according  to  the  reports,  but  there  was  proba- 
bly a  very  much  larger  membership. 

At  this  session  Mr.  Powderly  was  elected  Grand  Master 
Workman,  Richard  Griffiths,  of  Illinois,  Grand  Worthy 
Foreman,  Mr.  Litchman  was  re-elected  Grand  Secretary, 
Gilbert  Rockwood,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  was  elected  Grand 


4IO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Assistant  Secretary,  and  Dominick  Hammer,  of  Ohio,  elected 
Grand  Treasurer. 

The  fourth  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  held  at 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  September  7-11,  1880.  Forty  delegates 
were  present. 

Grand  Master  Workman  Powderly,  in  his  address,  said  :  — 

The  quicksands  which  have  swallowed  up  many  a  noble  organization  in 
the  past  are  many,  and  still  exist;  they  are  ever  present,  and,  unfortunately, 
keep  pace  with  our  organization.  Could  men  learn  and  profit  by  the  dread 
experience  of  the  past,  instead  of  groping  blindly  into  the  future,  we  would 
fare  far  better. 

He  spoke  of  strikes  as  one  of  the  evils  which  beset  trades- 
unions,  and  which  now  and  then  come  to  the  surface  in  this  or- 
ganization. He  said  :  — 

We  are  the  willing  victims  of  an  outraged  system  that  envelopes  us  in  the 
midst  of  the  ills  of  which  we  complain.  We  should  not  war  with  man  for 
being  what  tve  make  him,  but  strike  powerful,  telling  blows  at  the  base  of  the 
system  which  makes  the  laborer  the  slave  of  his  master.  So  long  as  the  pres- 
ent order  of  things  exists,  just  so  long  will  the  attempt  to  make  peace  between 
the  man  who  sells  and  the  man  who  buys  labor  be  fruitless. 

He  said  the  only  way  to  prevent  strikes  was  to  abolish  the 
wage-system.  He  further  said  :  — 

This  is  the  system  which  carries  with  it  into  the  workshop,  the  mine  and 
the  factory  a  host  of  evils,  which,  to  repeat,  would  completely  exhaust  the 
whole  vocabulary  of  murmurings  which  fill  the  complaint-book  of  labor. 

This  is  the  system  which,  serpent-like,  pushes  itself  along  wherever  those 
bands  of  commercial  iron  and  steel  are  laid,  carrying  discontent  and  misery  in 
its  train. 

This  is  the  system  which  enables  half-a-dozen  men  to  sit  at  their  tables  in 
any  of  our  large  centres  of  trade,  and,  without  any  thought  of  the  welfare  of 
the  country,  issue  the  imperial  mandates  which  direct  the  movements  of  the 
whole  industrial  population  of  the  United  States. 

This  is  the  system  which  makes  every  railroad  superintendent,  every  fac- 
tory or  mine  superintendent,  an  autocrat,  at  whose  nod  or  beck  the  poor 
unrequited  slave  who  labors  must  bow  the  head  and  bend  the  knee  in  humble 
suppliance. 

To  point  out  a  way  to  utterly  destroy  this  system  would  be  a  pleasure  to  me. 
I  can  only  direct  your  attention  to  it,  and  leave  the  rest  to  your  wisdom  ;  and 
I  firmly  believe  that  I  have  pointed  out  the  most  vicious  of  all  evils  which 
afflict  labor  to-day. 

But  are  we  prepared  to  lay  siege  to  this  bulwark  of  oppression?  Remember 
that  for  centuries  it  has  been  slowly,  yet  steadily,  creeping  onward,  making, 


.   POWDERLY'S  ADDRESS,  1880.  411 

each  year,  new  and  deeper  inroads  upon  labor,  until  to-day  it  stands  so  well 
established  and  powerful  that  even  the  staunchest  heart  in  the  ranks  of  labor's 
defenders  almost  sinks  in  despair  at  the  thought  of  breaking  down  the  bar- 
riers of  fear,  ignorance  and  superstition,  to  which  its  existence  has  given 
birth. 

The  wage-system,  at  its  inception,  was  but  an  experiment,  and  doubts  were 
entertained  as  to  its  adoption ;  but  the  avaricious  eye  of  the  Shylock  of  labor 
saw  in  it  a  weapon  with  which  he  could  strike  the  toiler  to  the  dust,  and  to-day 
that  system  has  so  firm  a  hold  upon  us  that  every  attempt  at  shaking  off  the 
fetters  by  resorting  to  a  strike  only  makes  it  easier  for  the  master  to  say  to 
his  slave,  "  You  must  -work  for  less  -wages." 

We  must  teach  our  members,  then,  that  the  remedy  for  the  redress  of  the 
wrongs  we  complain  of  does  not  lie  in  the  suicidal  strike;  but  it  lies  in 
thorough,  effective  organization.  Without  organization,  we  cannot  accom- 
plish anything;  through  it,  we  hope  to  forever  banish  that  curse  of  modern 
civilization,  — wage-slavery. 

But  how?  Surely  not  by  forming  an  association  and  remaining  a  member; 
not  by  getting  every  other  worthy  man  to  become  a  member,  and  remain  one; 
not  by  paying  the  dues  required  of  us  as  they  fall  due.  These  are  all  impor- 
tant factors  in  the  method  by  which  we  hope  to  regain  our  independence,  and 
are  vitally  important;  they  are  the  elements  necessary  to  a  complete  organi- 
zation. 

Organization  once  perfected,  what  must  we  do?  I  answer,  study  the  best 
means  of  putting  your  organization  to  some  practical  use  by  embarking  in  a 
system  of  co-operation,  which  will  eventually  make  every  man  his  own 
master,  every  man  his  own  employer;  a  system  which  will  give  the  laborer  a 
fair  proportion  of  the  products  of  his  toil. 

It  is  to  co-operation,  then,  as  the  lever  of  labor's  emancipation,  that  the  eyes 
of  the  workingmen  and  women  are  directed ;  upon  co-operation  their  hopes 
are  centered,  and  to  it  do  I  now  direct  your  attention.  I  am  deeply  sensible 
of  the  importance,  of  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  in  which  I  invite  you 
to  engage.  I  know  that  it  is  human  nature  to  grow  cold,  apathetic,  and 
finally  indifferent,  when  engaged  in  that  which  requires  deep  study  and  per- 
sistent effort,  unattended  by  excitement;  men  are  apt  to  believe  that  physical 
force  is  the  better  way  of  redressing  grievances,  being  the  shorter  remedy; 
but  even  that  requires  patience  and  fortitude  as  well  as  strength.  I  need  but 
point  out  to  you  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  which  took  nearly  eight  years 
of  hard  fighting  and  persistent  effort  upon  the  part  of  men  who  fought  for  a 
principle.  Had  these  men  fallen  into  the  same  error  which  labor  has  so  often 
fallen  into,  there  would  be  no  independence ;  had  they  gone  to  their  homes 
after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  there  would  be  no  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
erected,  even  though  the  result  of  that  battle  was  encouraging. 

To  the  subject  of  co-operation,  then,  do  I  invite  your  attention,  and  I  liken 
it  unto  the  Revolutionary  war.  If  you  decide  upon  carrying  it  out  at  this  con- 
vention, it  will  be  the  Bunker  Hill  of  Industrial  Independence;  but  you  must 
also  bear  in  mind,  though  the  longest  term  allotted  to  man  be  yours  to  live, 
you  will  not  see  during  that  term  the  complete  triumph  of  your  hopes.  The 
war  for  American  Indedendence  had  its  Bunker  Hills  and  its  Washingtons, 
but  it  also  had  its  Valley  Forges  and  its  Benedict  Arnolds.  The  enthusiasm 


412  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  the  hour  will  avail  us  nothing,  and  co-operation  requires  every  Washington 
of  labor  to  be  up  and  doing.  The  laboring  man  needs  education  in  this  great 
social  question,  and  the  best  minds  of  the  Order  must  give  their  precious 
thought  to  this  system.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  labor  cannot,  through 
co-operation,  own  and  operate  mines,  factories  and  railroads.  By  co-operation 
alone  can  a  system  of  colonization  be  established  in  which  men  may  band 
together  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number, 
and  place  the  man  who  is  willing  to  toil  upon  his  own  homestead.  Through 
co-operation  alone  can  the  people  reclaim  the  land,  the  heritage  of  the  Uni- 
versal Father.  Millions  of  acres  have  been  stolen  from  the  people,  and  while 
we  may  think  that  that  question  is  of  no  interest  to  us  here  to-day,  I  sincerely 
believe  that  for  every  acre  of  land  which  God  designed  for  man's  use  and 
benefit  that  is  stolen,  another  link  is  riveted  to  the  chain  with  which  the  land 
bond-lords  hope  to  finally  encircle  us.  A  few  short  years  ago,  if  the  represent- 
atives of  labor  had  met  in  convention  such  as  this  is,  the  land  question  would 
not  necessarily  have  intruded  itself  upon  them;  but  during  those  few  short 
years  we  have  slept,  and  to-day,  whether  we  will  or  not,  it  is  thrust  upon  us. 
Our  Order  has  within  its  folds  some  of  the  best  minds  of  the  country; 
and,  recognizing  the  fact  that  this  body  of  men  cannot,  at  this  session,  per- 
fect the  best  means  of  embarking  in  co-operative  or  colonization  enterprises, 
yet  we  can  discuss  this  question,  and  frame  such  laws  as  to  us  seem  best. 


On  the  eight-hour  law,  he  says  :  — 

A  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  is  a  necessity,  to  which  we  can  no  longer 
close  our  eyes.  To  the  inventive  genius  of  the  mechanic  and  laborer  are  due 
the  new  and  varied  improvements  in  machinery  of  all  kinds.  The  man  who 
sits  comfortably  clipping  the  coupons  from  his  bonds,  never  invents  anything, 
unless  it  be  a  new  way  to  squeeze  more  labor  out  of  the  toiler  for  less  money. 
He  must  depend  upon  the  man  who  labors  for  everything,  including  the  won- 
derful inventions  in  the  way  of  improved  machinery.  Does  the  improvement 
of  any  of  the  machines  in  use,  or  the  invention  of  a  new  one,  add  to  his 
labors?  No.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  enabled  thereby  to  reap  a  greater  profit; 
for,  if  an  employer,  he  discharges  the  man  who  invents  the  machine,  and 
hires  a  boy  to  run  it  for  less  money. 

The  wonderful  machinery  of  to-day  renders  it  possible  for  man  to  perform 
tenfold  more  labor  than  a  century  ago.  Have  the  hours  of  labor  been  reduced 
accordingly?  On  the  contrary,  men  are  obliged  to  work  longer  in  proportion 
to-day  than  they  did  in  the  past. 

If  to  the  workman's  brain  is  due  these  wonderful  inventions,  then  to  his 
body  should  come  the  rest  made  necessary  by  such  drains  upon  his  mental 
system,  and  the  only  way  to  give  that  rest  is  to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor,  and 
every  opportunity  should  be  improved  looking  to  that  end ;  but  a  mere  re- 
quest to  lend  assistance  in  reducing  the  hours  of  labor  will  not  avail.  Men 
mii.-f  be  compelled  to  help  themselves,  and  a  law  should  be  passed  at  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  requiring  each  member  to  assist  by  voice  and  pen,  by  petition 
and  means,  every  honest  effort  looking  towards  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  wage-slave  by  reducing  his  hours  of  labor. 


CHILD-LABOR. 


4*3 


On  the  subject  of  child-labor,  his  remarks  were  :  — 


Does  not  every  thinking  man  tremble  when  he  gives  a  moment's  thought  to 
the  future  of  this  great  nation ;  when  he  considers  that  the  children  of  to-day 
will  be  the  men  who  will  govern  the  nation,  or  be  governed  by  tyrants  them- 
selves? If  they  are  to  govern  the  nation,  is  it  not  a  terrible,  a  sad  comment- 
ary upon  our  institutions,  that  the  future  governors  are  to-day  receiving  the 
training  necessary  for  such  an  undertaking  in  our  county  jails  and  prisons? 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  to  be  governed,  what  a  hopeless,  dreary, 
drudging  life  is  opened  up  to  men,  who,  knowing  but  little  of  their  rights, 
will  never  dare  to  ask  for  them  !  Either  of  these  pictures  is  an  unpleasant 
one  to  contemplate.  Our  Order  can  be  made  an  engine  of  destruction  to  the 
system  which  drives  the  child  of  tender  years  into  competition  with  its  parent 
or  parents.  It  is  our  duty,  then,  to  do  something  here,  to-day,  for  the  good 
of  humanity  in  the  future,  by  beginning  an  agitation  upon  this  question, 
which  will  end  in  its  disappearance  from  our  country. 

The  Grand  Secretary  made  an  exhaustive  report  to  the  con- 
vention, devoting  considerable  space  to  the  Eight-hour  law. 
Up  to  this  time,  the  Labor  Tribune  had  published  a  column 
under  five  stars,  (***%)  which  meant  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

The  fifth  session  was  held  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  March  6-10, 
1881. 

In  1880,  the  Order  did  not  increase  much  in  membership, 
and  the  desire  to  make  its  name  and  principles  public  had 
increased.  Some  of  the  district  assemblies  were  working 
openly,  while  others  worked  secretly. 

At  this  convention,  Mr.  Litchman  declined  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  office  of  Grand  Secretary,  and  Robert  D.  Layton,  of 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  was  elected.  . 

The  next  session  was  held  in  New  York  City,  September 
5-12,  1882. 

During  the  preceding  year,  an  effort  had  been  made  by 
certain  parties  to  create  division  in  the  ranks  of  the  iron  and 
steel  workers,  with  a  view  to  their  joining  the  Knights  of 
Labor. 

The  General  Assembly,  at  this  convention,  deprecated  any 
efforts  of  this  kind,  and  passed  resolutions  giving  the  Amal- 
gamated Association  of  Iron  and  Steel  Workers  their  moral 
support,  »and  expressed  their  opposition  to  any  movement 
tending  to  weaken  the  position  assumed  by  the  Amalgamated 
Association. 


414  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Some  changes  were  made  in  the  secret  work  of  the 
Order  during  this  year,  and  considerable  insubordination 
was  aroused. 

Strikes  had  multiplied  from  year  to  year.  The  General 
Master  Workman,  in  his  address,  said  :  — 

One  cause  for  the  tidal-wave  of  strikes  that  has  swept  over  our  Order  comes 
from  the  exaggerated  reports  of  the  strength  of  the  Order,  numerically  and 
financially,  given  by  many  of  our  organizers.  Such  a  course  may  lead  men 
into  the  Order,  but  by  a  path  that  leads  them  out  again ;  for,  as  soon  as  they 
become  convinced  that  they  were  deceived,  they  lose  confidence  in  the  Order. 

Many  misrepresentations  had  been  made  in  reference  to 
the  objects  and  name  of  the  Order,  and  the  General  Master 
Workman  was  quoted  as  saying  that  he  would  "  vote  a  rifle 
and  Gatling-gun  to  each  member  of  the  Order." 

The  great  boycott  of  the  Duryea  Starch  Company  attracted 
considerable  attention  at  the  time,  seriously  affecting  the 
credit  of  the  Grand  Statistician  of  the  Order. 

The  Order  increased  in  membership.  Workmen  in  many 
places  were  blacklisted  for  belonging  to  it.  Many  complaints 
were  entered  of*  overbearing  and  tyrannical  treatment  by  em- 
ployers. Coal-diggers  were  said  to  be  treated  like  slaves  ; 
from  another  place  the  complaint  was  made  that  workmen 
were  treated  in  a  brutal  manner ;  if  one  became  sick,  he  was 
discharged.  It  was  reported  from  another  place  that  the  ut- 
most tyranny  prevailed  in  most  of  the  shops  and  factories  ;  that 
efforts  to  organize  were  punished  by  dismissal. 

We  quote  a  few  more  complaints  :  :t  Treated  with  harsh- 
ness ;  "  "  the  treatment  is  insolent,  arrogant  and  oppressive  ;  " 
"we  are  treated  the  same  as  any  other  piece  of  machinery  ; " 
"  frequently  threatened  and  victimized;"  "treated  like  dogs, 
and  have  to  sign  an  agreement  not  to  belong  to  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  if  we  want  to  get  employment ;  "  "  employers  around 
here  never  concede  anything  without  a  strike  ;  "  "  horses  are 
treated  better  than  men  in  this  region.;"  "we  are  forced  to 
trade  at  the  '  pluck  me'  "  (meaning  a  truck-store). 

After  the  organization  of  labor  in  certain  localities,  the 
treatment  seems  to  have  improved,  one  assembly  reporting  : 
"The  treatment  was  arbitrary  and  unjust  before  we  were  or- 


THE  "IMPROVED  ORDER."  415 

ganized  :  now  it  is  courteous  ;  "  another,  that  "  they  (the  em- 
ployers) have  simmered  down  since  the  Order  was  estab- 
lished here,"  while  another  report  was:  "The  treatment  has 
gradually  improved  since  the  labor  agitation  in  Chicago 
brought  about  laws  in  our  own  interests-  and  sanitary  inspec- 
tion in  factories  and  dwellings." 

The  death  of  the  founder  and  first  Grand  Master  Work- 
man of  the  Order,  U.  S.  Stephens,  was  noticed  by  fitting 
resolutions. 

The  seventh  session  convened  at  Cincinnati,  O.,  September 
4,  1883,  and  was  in  session  eight  days. 

The  Grand  Master  Workman,  in  his  address  at  this  conven- 
tion, referred  to  the  strike  of  the  Telegraphic  Brotherhood, 
District  Assembly  45 ,  Knights  of  Labor,  arid  said  : — 

The  failure  of  the  strike  may  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause  as  of  old, — a 
lack  of  funds  and  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  principles  involved ;  men  who 
had  large  families  dependent  on  them,  and  were  otherwise  burdened,  were  the 
last  to  return  to  work,  while  those  that  were  younger,  and  had  no  one  to  care 
for  but  self,  were  the  first  to  forget  their  allegiance  to  principle. 

The  change  was  made  in  the  title  of  the*  officers  of  the 
General  Assembly,  from  "Grand"  to  "General."  Some 
changes  \vere  made  in  the  officers,  Frederick  Turner  being 
elected  General  Secretary,  and  Mr.  Powderly  being  re-elected 
General  Master  Workman. 

During  the  preceding  year,  there  had  been  formed  an  or- 
ganization under  the  ni^e  of  the  "  Improved  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor." 

Referring-  to  this  Order,  General  Master  Workman  Pow- 

O  7 

derly  wrote  for  the  Pittsburgh  Times,  of  July  16,  1883,  as 
follows  :  — 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  of  late  concerning  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  and  the  forming  of  the  federation  of  trades.  The  principal 
reason  given  for  the  proposed  action,  summed  up  in  a  few  words,  is,  that  each 
trade  or  craft  in  being  organized  for  itself  can  more  easily  and  successfully 
engage  in  a  strike.  There  are  other  arguments  made  use  of  to  bolster  up  the 
"federation"  idea,  but  that  appears  to  be  the  principal  one;  at  least,  it  is 
the  one  to  which  most  prominence  is  given  in  the  Eastern  press.  One  thing 
is  certain :  the  originator  of  that  idea  was  neither  a  Knight  of  Labor  nor  a 
member  of  a  trades-union,  for  members  of  these  associations  know  that  the 
tendency  of  the  times  is  to  do  away  with  strikes;  that  remedy  has  been  proved 


416  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

by  experience  to  be  a  very  costly  one  for  employer  and  employee.  The  trades- 
union  does  not  favor  a  strike ;  it  is  regarded  as  a  dernier  resort  by  every 
labor  association  in  the  land,  and  no  good  can  come  of  the  dismemberment 
of  an  association,  which,  among  other  things,  aims  at  the  perfecting  of  a 
system  by  which  disputes  between  the  laborer  and  capitalist  can  be  settled 
without  resorting  to  so  costly  an  experiment  as  the  strike  is  acknowledged  to 
be.  Why,  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  the  various  labor  associations  of  the 
country  are  in  no  great  danger  of  being  disbanded.  I  called  the  strike  an 
experiment,  and  I  would  have  every  advocate  of  such  a  measure  note  these 
words.  Strikes  have  been  resorted  to  for  centuries ;  and  to-day,  after  hun- 
dreds of  trials  have  been  had,  men  cannot  embark  in  a  strike  with  any  assur- 
ance of  success,  based  upon  a  former  precedent.  Every  one  must  be  decided 
upon  its  own  me'rits.  I  will  never  advocate  a  strike,  unless  it  be  a  strike  at 
the  ballot-box,  or  such  a  one  as  was  proclaimed  to  the  world  by  the  unmis- 
takable sound  of  the  strikers'  guns  on  the  field  of  Lexington.  But  the  neces- 
sity for  such  a  strike  as  the  latter  does  not  exist  at  present.  The  men  who 
made  the  name  of  Lexington  famous  in  the  world's  history  were  forced  to 
adopt  the  bullet,  because  they  did  not  possess  the  ballot.  We  have  the  lattery 
and  if  the  money  of  the  monopolists  can  influence  us  to  deposit  our  ballots  in 
favor  of  our  enemies, — if  we  cannot  be  depended  on  to  go  quietly  to  the 
polling-booth,  and  summon  to  our  aid  moral  courage  enough  to  deposit  a 
little  piece  of  paper  in  our  own  interest,  —  how  can  it  be  expected  of  us  to  sum- 
mon physical  courage  enough  to  do  battle  for  our  rights,  as  did  our  fathers  at 
Lexington  ?  And  if  we  do  go  to  the  tented  field,  will  not  the  same  agency 
that  induced  us  to  vote  against  ourselves,  induce  us  to  thrust  our  bayonets 
into  the  hearts  of  our  friends  instead  of  our  foes  ?  I  answer,  "Yes  ;  fora  faith- 
less citizen  never  made  a  faithful  soldier."  What,  then,  is  the  duty  of  the 
hour? 

Men  may  argue,  from  what  I  have  said,  that  I  believe  our  cause  to  be  hope- 
less, and,  did  I  not  have  faith  in  the  Knights  of  Labor,  I  would  say,  "  Yes  ;  the 
cause  is  lost."  Other  men  entertain  different  opinions,  and  positively  assert 
that  the  panacea  for  all  the  ills  we  suffer  will  come  through  the  adoption  of 
such  advice  as  they  have  to  offer;  for  instance,  "Democrat"  says  in  his  letter 
of  July  4th,  that,  in  order  to  secure  the  blessings  we  seek,  we  have  only  to 
merge  ourselves  into  the  great  Democratic  party,  and  help  to  swell  the  triumph 
of  the  plain  people  in  1884!  I  must  be  pardoned  for  differing  with  him.  I 
do  not  believe  that  it  lies  within  the  province  of  any  party  to  protect  the 
many  against  the  unjust  encroachments  of  the  moneyed  few,  unless  the  many 
are  properly  instructed  in  the  science  of  government.  The  party  is  the  con- 
crete man.  If  the  individuals  comprising  the  party  are  ignorant  of  their 
rights,  and  must  trust  to  the  wisdom  or  discretion  of  the  party  leaders,  they 
either  follow  in  the  wake  of  blind  leaders,  or  permit  themselves  to  be  blindly 
led  along  by  their  leaders.  In  either  case,  it  will  not  be  the  intelligence  they 
display,  or  the  instructions  they  give  that  will  urge  their  leaders  forward  in 
an  honest  groove,  and  under  such  circumstances  as  these  the  duty  of  the  citi- 
zen ceases  so  soon  as  he  casts  his  vote.  Will  "  Democrat"  assure  us  that  if 
each  of  the  associations  he  names  (the  Grangers,  the  Knights  of  Labor,  the 
Amalgamated  Association,  and  the  various  trades-unions)  should  cease  to- 
work,  and  "  merge  into  the  Democratic  party,"  that  they  would  not  be  obliged 


POLITICAL    ACTION. 


417 


to  reorganize  again  in  a  few  years  to  protect  themselves  from  the  Democratic 
party?  Will  any  Republican  assure  members  of  these  associations  that  a  gen- 
eral reorganization  will  not  be  necessary,  should  they  merge  into  the  Republi- 
can party?  Remember,  I  am  not  assailing  parties;  the  party  is  good  or  bad, 
as  the  majority  of  its  members  determine.  Who  is  to  blame  for  the  misdeeds 
of  a  party?  The  majority.  Who  comprise  the  majorities  in  the  Democratic 
and  Republican  parties?  Why,  "the  plain  people,"  of  course.  I  believe 
that  there  is  no  man  so  good  that  he  will  not  bear  watching.  What  is  true  of 
man  is  true  of  party;  and,  in  either  case,  the  watchers  must  be  educated  —  they 
must  be  actuated  by  one  common  impulse;  in  other  words,  they  must  be  or- 
ganized. That  there  are  men  who  believe  that  political  parties  require  both 
watching  and  teaching,  I  am  positive.  Let  me  quote  the  words  of  a  man 
whose  fidelity  to  the  Democratic  party  cannot  be  questioned,  but  whose  love 
of  justice  is  stronger  than  his  regard  for  party.  In  his  letter  to  the  Constitu- 
tional Club,  of  New  York,  Judge  Jeremiah  S.  Black  says  :  — 

"What  is  the  remedy?  No  enforcement  of  the  Constitution  and  laws, 
which  command  what  is  right  and  prohibit  what  is  wrong;  for  that  cannot  be 
effected  without  officers  that  are  faithful.  As  it  is,  our  Governors  do  not  gov- 
ern, and  legislators  laugh  in  your  face  when  you  tell  them  of  their  oaths. 
Shall  we  turn  them  out  and  fill  their  places  with  true  men  ?  That  is  easier 
said  than  done.  Monopoly  has  methods  of  debauching  party  leaders,  cheat- 
ing voters,  and  deceiving  the  very  elect,  which  perpetually  defeat  our  hopes  of 
honest  government.  If  the  power  of  the  corporations  increases  a  little  more, 
they  can  put  their  worst  rascal  into  the  highest  office  as  easily  as  Caligula's 
horse  was  elected  consul  by  the  people  of  Rome. 

"You  will  infer  from  this  that  I  am  somewhat  discouraged;  and  it  is  true 
that  very  recent  events  here  in  Pennsylvania  have  much  disappointed  me. 
But  that  is  no  reason  why  you  should  despair.  You  have  what  we  have  not, 
—  an  organization  to  make  your  grievances  known;  and  I  hope  that  from 
your  meeting  the  truth  will  go  forth  to  rescue  and  rouse  up  like  the  sound  of 
a  trumpet." 

It  may  be  inferred,  from  the  position  I  have  taken  in  the  foregoing  lines, 
that  the  mission  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  to  become  a  political  party,  and 
that  it  is  intended  to  take  precedence  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  inference 
would  be  wrong.  The  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  higher  and  grander 
than  partv.  There  is  a  nobler  future  before  it  than  that  which  clings  to  its 
existence  amidst  partisan  rancor  and  strife.  The  Order  is  a  friend  to  men 
of  all  parties,  and  believing  that  the  moment  it  assumes  the  role  of  a  politi- 
cal party  its  usefulness  would  be  destroyed,  it  has  refrained  and  will  refrain 
from  doing  so.  The  moment  we  proclaim  to  the  world  that  our  Order  is  a 
political  party,  that  moment  the  lines  are  drawn,  and  we  receive  no  more 
accessions  to  our  ranks  from  the  other  existing  parties,  with  the  exception  of 
here  and  there  a  member  who  becomes  a  convert  through  conviction  that  we 
are  right.  We  have  political  parties  enough.  Every  one  of  them  in  its  early 
days  was  honest  and  gave  promise  of  good  results ;  but  the  moment  that  suc- 
cess perched  upon  its  banners,  the  vultures  who  feed  upon  spoils  also  perched 
upon  its  body,  and  to  a  certain  extent  frustrated  the  designs  of  its  organizers. 
The  same  would  be  true  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  One  reason  why  political 
parties  degenerate  is  because  the  masses  of  the  common  people  are  not 

(27) 


418  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

educated.  We  may  be  able  to  read  and  write,  but  we  are  not  educated  on  the 
economic  and  social  questions  with  which  we  are  brought  in  contact  every 
hour.  If  we  were,  we  could  more  easily  discern  the  difference  between  good 
and  bad  legislation,  and  we  would  not  be  clamoring  so  often  for  the  repeal  of 
bad  laws.  The  chief  aim  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  is  to  educate  not  only  men, 
but  parties ;  educate  men  first,  that  they  may  educate  parties  and  govern  them 
intelligently  and  honestly.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  gave  this  advice  before 
leaving  us.  He  said:  — 

"  Let  us  make  our  education  brave  and  preventive.  Politics  is  an  after- 
work,  a  poor  patching.  We  are  always  a  little  late.  The  evil  is  done,  the 
law  is  past,  and  we  begin  the  up-hill  agitation  for  the  repeal  of  that  of  which 
we  ought  to  have  prevented  the  enacting.  We  shall  one  day  learn  to  super- 
sede politics  by  education.  What  we  call  root  and  branch  reforms  of  slavery, 
war,  gambling,  intemperance,  is  only  medicating  the  symptoms.  We  must 
begin  higher,  — namely,  in  education." 

"To  supersede  politics  by  education,"  it  first  becomes  necessary  to  organ- 
ize the  masses  into  an  association  where  they  can  be  educated.  Take  fifty 
men  of  one  calling  and  place  them  in  a  room  organized  under  the  laws  of  a 
distinct  trade  society,  and  they  will  discuss  nothing  but  such  matters  as  per- 
tain to  their  trade.  If  they  do  not  mingle  among  those  of  other  trades,  they 
will  grow  indifferent  to  the  wants  of  others  ;  they  will  remain  in  ignorance  of 
their  own  rights  through  the  ignorance  of  the  rights  of  others.  Selfishness 
will  be  the  rule,  and  "  the  up-hill"  agitation  for  the  repeal  of  that  which  we 
ought  to  have  prevented  the  enacting,  still  stares  us  constantly  in  the  face. 
I  am  aware  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  meet  with  opposition  from  the  leaders 
of  some  labor  organizations.  They  anticipate  that  in  the  event  of  their  asso- 
ciations becoming  a  part  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  their  occupation,  like 
Othello's,  will  be  gone;  but  they  entertain  groundless  fears.  We  seek  the 
co-operation  of  every  labor  society,  the  dissolution  of  none.  We  seek  and 
intend  to  enlist  the  services  of  men  of  every  society,  of  every  party,  every 
religion  and  every  nation,  in  the  crusade  which  we  have  inaugurated  against 
these  twin  monsters,  tyranny  and  monopoly,  and  in  that  crusade  we  have 
burned  the  bridges  behind  us ;  we  have  stricken  from  our  vocabulary  that 
word  "fail";  we  aim  at  establishing  the  complete  rights  of  man  throughout  the 
world;  we  take  as  our  guide  no  precedent  ever  set  by  mortal  man,  unless  it 
be  right;  we  tolerate  no  dissensions,  and  will  have  no  disbanding,  save  as  is 
ordained  by  the  Great  Master  Workman,  when  He  calls  from  our  ranks  each 
individual  member,  and  bids  him  join  that  silent  majority,  whose  votes  upon 
the  questions  of  this  world  find  voice  only  on  the  pages  of  the  recorded 
past. 

The  eighth  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  held  at 
Philadelphia,  September  i,  1884,  and  continued  in  session 
eleven  days. 

General  Master  Workman  Powderly  referred,  in  his  address, 
to  the  growth  of  the  Order  since  its  inception,  and  said  that  up 
to  that  day  it  had  been  sowing  the  seed,  and  that  in  the  future 


HUNGARIAN    WOMEN. 


419 


members  must  bend  their  energies  to  gathering  in  the  har- 
vest. 

Speaking  on  the  subject  of  political  action,  he  severely 
criticised  the  course  of  politicians,  saying :  — 

Nominate  a  man  for  the  legislature  in  any  of  our  large  cities  to-day, 
and,  unless  he  buys  his  way  into  office,  he  stands  a  good  chance  of  being 
defeated. 

In  regard  to  misrepresentations  as  to  the  doctrines,  objects 
and  purposes  of  the  Order,  he  said :  — 

Such  doings  have  retarded  the  progress  of  organized  labor  as  much  as  the 
opposition  of  capital.  *  *  *  We  have  had  too  much  trouble  from  members 
advancing  their  own  ideas,  or  the  theories  of  some  other  organization,  and 
palming  them  off  as  declarations  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 

The  importation  of  laborers  under  contract  was  commented 
upon  at  some  length  by  Mr.  Powderly,  at  this  convention. 
His  remarks  were,  in  substance,  as  follows  :  — 

One  of  the  evils  of  which  we  complain  at  the  present  day  is  the  manner 
in  which  unfortunate  men  and  women  are  brought  to  this  country  under 
a  contract  to  work  for  a  master  for  from  two  to  five  years.  This  is  slavery  in 
its  worst  form.  Not  only  does  it  enslave  the  unfortunate  immigrant,  but  it 
also  enslaves  the  men  and  women  with  whom  he  is  brought  in  competition  on 
our  shores. 

In  the  June  previous  to  this  convention,  Mr.  Powderly  had 
published  a  letter  in  the  Scranton  Truth,  with  reference  to 
the  working  of  Hungarian  women  at  the  coke-ovens.  In  this 
letter,  he  wrote  that  he  had  spent  a  good  share  of  a  week  in 
investigating  the  conditions  and  surroundings  of  the  wage- 
workers  of  that  section.  He  had  ample  opportunity  afforded 
him  of  viewing  the  details.  He  referred  incidentally  to  the 
misrepresentations  made  to  these  people  by  the  agents  of 
monopoly,  and  continued  :  — 

The  opposition  to  the  Hungarians  in  the  coke  regions  amounts  to  hatred, 
—  a  hatred  which  is  liable  at  any  time  to  burst  forth  in  a  blaze  which  may 
sweep  them  entirely  out  of  that  country.  This  antipathy  is  not  confined  to 
the  workingmen  alone  :  it  is  shared  in  by  business  men  and  ivorkingmen  alike ; 
and  they  all  unite  in  cursing  the  advent  of  the  Hungarian  to  the  coke  region. 
Last  Monday,  .the  largest  firm  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  coke  sent 
a  force  of  Hungarians  down  into  the  mines,  and  the  men  employed  in  the 


42O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

mines  immediately  quit  work.  There  was  no  meeting  called  for  the  purpose 
of  coming  to  an  agreement;  but  just  as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  a  Hun- 
garian was  entrusted  with  a  lamp,  the  other  men  employed  there  quit  work. 
I  asked  some  of  the  men  why  they  would  not  work  with  the  Hungarians,  and 
the  answer  was,  "  We  don't  care  whether  they  pay  these  men  more  wages  than 
they  do  us  or  not.  It  is  not  a  question  of  wages.  We  might  as  well  commit 
suicide  as  to  go  into  the  mine  with  them.  They  don't  understand  the  manner 
of  handling  the  safety-lamp,  and  may  set  off  the  gas  at  any  time,  and  burn  us 
all  to  death.  They  don't  know  how  to  read,  and  cannot  tell  when  they  see  the 
danger-signs." 

At  the  request  of  the  men,  I  remained  in  Connellsville  last  Wednesday 
night,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  an  assembly.  Shortly  after  the  meeting 
opened,  a  message  was  handed  in  to  the  chairman,  asking  whether  the  doors 
could  not  be  thrown  open  to  the  public.  The  request  was  granted,  and  the 
hall  was  soon  filled  by  business  men  and  farmers.  They  said  that  they  all 
suffered  through  the  evils  of  Hungarian  labor,  and  wished  to  take  counsel 
with  the  workingmen  as  to  the  best  steps  to  take  in  removing  this  curse  from 
the  country.  They  work  for  little  or  nothing,  live  on  fare  which  a  Chinaman 
would  not  touch,  and  will  submit  to  any  and  every  indignity  which  may  be 
imposed  on  them.  In  a  word,  they  are  utterly  devoid  of  the  spirit  necessary 
to  make  them  good  and  patriotic  American  citizens. 

The  following  dav,  I  spoke  at  an  outdoor  meeting  at  the  mine  where  the 
strike  occurred.  At  the  meeting  it  was  resolved  to  inaugurate  a  series  of  meet- 
ings throughout  the  entire  coke  region,  and  enlist  the  sympathy  of  every 
interested  person  in  the  valley.  I  had  often  heard  of  the  employment  of 
•women  at  the  coke-ovens,  but  never  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  it  before. 
The  women  are  not  employed  by  the  corporations,  but  they  accompany  their 
husbands  and  fathers  to  the  ovens  earlv  in  the  mornings  and  assist  in  draw- 
ing and  forking  coke.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  went  to  the  coke- 
works,  and  saw  for  myself  that  the  stories  that  I  had  been  told  were  not  exag- 
gerated. At  one  of  the  ovens.  I  saw  a  woman  drawing  the  hot  coke  from  the 
chamber.  She  had  no  covering  on  her  head,  and  very  little  on  her  person. 
Her  only  attire  consisted  of  a  short,  coarse  chemise  and  a  pair  of  cowhide 
boots.  In  a  freight-car  close  by  stood  another  woman  forking  the  coke  as  it 
came  to  the  car.  Forking  is  the  term  used  to  indicate  the  disposition  of  the 
coke  when  it  is  thrown  into  the  car.  The  person  who  does  the  forking  throws 
the  coke  to  either  end  of  the, car  as  it  is  wheeled  in.  This  woman  stood  it: 
the  Doorway,  and  was  dressed  in  a  coarse,  loose-fitting  outer  garment  and  an 
apron.  Her  person  from  the  waist  up  was  exposed.  When  she  stooped  over 
to  handle  the  coke,  she  caught  her  hair  between  her  teeth  in  order  to  keep  it 
out  of  her  way.  Her  feet  were  incased  in  a  pair  of  heavy  shoes;  her  legs 
were  exposed  from  the  knees  down.  Her  babe,  which  she  had  brought  to  the 
works  with  her,  lay  in  front  of  the  car,  with  scarcely  any  covering  except  the 
shadow  of  a  wheelbarrow  which  was  turned  up  in  order  to  protect  the  child 
from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Many  more  such  scenes  as  these  met  my  view, — 
some  of  them  even  worse  than  the  ones  I  have  described.  These  will,  how- 
ever, suffice  to  give  your  readers  an  idea  of  -what  imported  contract  labor 
really  means.  • 

Before  the  Hungarian  was  imported,  the  task  for  an  ordinary  man  was  to 


-ef^ 

,         ^S$P*- ,-^stt     PS^Mr^PIi 

1S55P- 

GENERAL   EXECUTIVE  BOARD,   KNIGHTS   OF   LABOR. 


LABEL    ADOPTED. 


42I 


draw  five  ovens ;  but  the  Hungarian  takes  the  contract  for  six  ovens  for  less 
money  than  the  American  formerly  received  for  five.  He  compels  his  wife  or 
grown-up  daughter  to  accompany  him  to  the  ovens  in  the  mornings  and 
assist  in  the  work  until  about  noon ;  after  that,  she  may  go  home. 

While  the  owner  of  the  works  does  not  employ  the  women,  he  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  crime  of  permitting  them  to  work  there,  and  should  be  held  up  to 
public  execration  and  scorn. 

If  it  were  possible  to  make  good  and  useful  citizens  of  these  men,  I  would 
never  raise  my  voice  against  them.  But  that  seems  impossible.  They  will  not 
adopt  our  manners  and  customs,  except  in  rare  instances.  I  have  seen  nine 
of  them  —  eight  men  and  one  woman — occupying  two  small  rooms;  have 
inquired  into  their  mode  of  living,  and  ascertained,  beyond  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt,  that  the  store-bill  for  the  nine  persons  for  the  previous  month  was  but 
twenty-seven  dollars.  Show  me  an  American  who  will  live  like  that,  and  I 
will  show  you  a  being  who  was  born  in  vain.  He  may  be  fit  to  work  —  so  is  a 
mule.  He  may  know  enough  to  go  in  when  it  rains  —  but  that  is  all.  I  believe 
that  the  claims  to  American  citizenship  should  be  based  on  intelligence,  not 
wealth.  To  the  exile  from  everv  land,  who  comes  to  us  with  the  intention  'of 
staying  among  us,  adopting  our  manners  and  customs,- and  assisting  in  pro- 
tecting our  institutions,  I  extend  the  open  hand  of  welcome ;  but  to  the  creature 
whose  highest  ambition  is  to  work,  —  work,  without  knowing  whether  he  re- 
ceives adequate  compensation  or  not,  I  have  no  welcome,  and  would  prevent 
him  from  landing  if  I  could.  I  believe  that  this  country  was  intended  for  a  race 
of  freemen,  and,  believing  that,  I  will  always  oppose  the  introduction  of  such 
men  as  are  not  capable  of  enjoying,  appreciating,  defending  and  perpetuating 
the  blessings  of  good  government. 

The  increase  of  the  Order  in  the  preceding  year  was  steady 
and  healthy.  Statistics  were  presented  to  this  convention, 
consisting  of  a  table  of  wages,  a  table  of  ages,  and  a  table  of 
the  hours  of  labor  per  day.  Reports  from  every  part  of  the 
country,  save  two,  told  tales  of  hardships  suffered  by  the 
wage-workers. 

A  Knights  of  Labor  trade-mark  or  label  was  adopted  in 
1884  ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  get  it  registered,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  impossible  to  designate  the  character  of  the 
goods  upon  which  it  was  to  be  used. 

T.  V.  Powderly  was  again  elected  General  Master  Work- 
man, Richard  Griffiths  was  elected  General  Worthy  Foreman, 
and  Frederick  Turner  re-elected  General  Secretary-Treas- 
urer. The  ninth  regular  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
convened  at  Hamilton,  Ont.,  October  5,  1885,  and  was  in 
session  eight  days. 

The  General  Master  Workman's  opening  address  has  been 


422  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

published  within  a  year  in  the  public  press,  and  consequently 
we  give  only  the  salient  features. 

He  spoke  of  the  serious  disturbances  in  the  labor  world, 
saying  :  — 

Men  have  grown  restive  under  the  treatment  they  were  receiving,  and  have 
struck  against  impositions  being  practiced  upon  them.  It  has  become  fash- 
ionable of  late  to  refuse  to  treat  with  workmen  while  they  are  on  strike.  In 
some  cases,  violence  was  practised ;  in  others  it  was  hinted  at,  and  in  others 
roughs  were  bargained  for  to  disturb  the  peace,  in  order  that  the  militia  could 
be  called  out.  Had  the  employers  and  employees  come  together,  either  through 
their  agents  or  principals,  all  the  things  that  have  occurred  could  have  been 
avoided.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  workers  had  justice  on  their  side 
in  every  instance;  but  I  am  positive  that  the  introduction  of  the  Pinkerton  de- 
tective as  an  agent  in  the  settlement  of  disputes  is  entirely  foreign  to  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  Constitution  of  our  common  country.  The  men  who  make 
up  the  Pinkertonsaregathered  in  from  the  brothels,  gambling-dens  and  slums 
of  our  large  cities,  —  composed  of  creatures  who  are  outcasts  from  decent  so- 
ciety. Their  introduction  for  the  purpose  of  settling  disputes  through  force 
of  arms  is  an  insult  to  society  everywhere.  The  employer  of  labor  who  calls  to 
his  aid  a  body  of  hired  assassins — and  the  Pinkerton  thugs  can  be  called  by 
no  more  appropriate  name  —  must  have  a  poor  estimate  of  his  own  abilities 
and  intelligence,  when  he  lets  such  delicate  and  important  work  as  the  regula- 
tion of  his  business  with  his  employees  out  to  a  human  brute,  devoid  of  intel- 
ligence, manhood,  self-respect  and  decency. 

He  quoted  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  fol- 
lows, referring  to  the  complaints  against  the  King  of  Great 
Britain  :  "  He  kept  among  us  in  times  of  peace  standing 
armies  without  the  consent  of  the  legislature.  He  has  affected 
to  render  the  military  independent  of  and  superior  to  the 
civil  power." 

He  spoke  of  the  political  power  of  the  masses,  when  rightly 
directed  and  of  the  evils  of  convict  labor  on  national  work.  He 
favored  the  incorporation  of  trades-unions  and  labor  associa- 
tions, called  attention  to  the  employment  of  foreign  labor, 
gave  considerable  attention  to  the  question  of  land  legislation, 
recommended  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  look  after 
necessary  legislation,  recommended  trade  industry,  and  spoke 
in  his  usual  emphatic  way  against  drunkenness-  He  also 
recommended  co-operative  efforts. 

Important  legislation  was  enacted  at  this  session,  and  gen- 
eral lecturers  appointed.  As  a  result  of  this  convention, 


GREETING    TO    TRADES-UNIONS. 


423 


George  E.  McNeill  was  appointed  by  Mr.  Powderly  to  repre- 
sent the  Order  at  Washington,  he  having  no  authority  to 
appoint  a  committee. 

In  the  winter  of  1885  and  spring  of  1886,  the  Order  grew 
with  unprecedented  rapidity.  Never  in  the  history  of  the 
world  were  the  workingmen  everywhere,  of  all  trades  and 
callings,  so  aroused  to  the  needs  of  organization.  Local 
assemblies  were  multiplied  by  hundreds,  and  thousands  of  men 
were  enrolling  their  names  daily.  With  this  influx  of  new 
members,  undisciplined  and  ignorant  of  the  failures  of  the 
past,  strikes  multiplied  as  though  a  contagion  spread  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other.  This  wonderful  and 
unnatural  growth  led  the  Executive  Board  to  place  a  check 
upon  further  organization,  and  in  District  30  (Massachusetts,) 
led  even  to  the  suspension  of  the  initiation  of  new  members. 
In  this  last-named  State,  instructors  were  appointed  to  visit' 
the  local  assemblies,  and  instruct  them  in  the  principles  and 
work  of  the  Order. 

A  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly  was  convened 
at  Cleveland,  O.,  May  25, 1886,  and  was  in  session  until  June 
3rd.  At  this  session,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  look  after 
legislation,  and  six  auxiliary  members  of  the  Executive 
Board  were  elected,  consisting  of  James  E.  Quinn,  New 
York,  W.  H.  Mullen,  Richmond,  Va.,  Hugh  Cavanaugh, 
Cincinnati,  O.,  D.  R.  Gibson,  Hamilton,  Ont.,  Joseph  R. 
Buchanan,  Denver,  Col.,  and  Ira  B.  Aylesworth,  Baltimore, 
Md.  Much  time  was  consumed  in  discussing  the  relations  of 
the  Order  to  trades-unions ;  a  circular  address  to  the  trades- 
unions  was  adopted,  and  a  comrqittee  of  five  authorized  to 
confer  with  the  trades-union  organization.  The  circular  was 
as  follows  :  — 

To  the   Officers  and  Members  of  all  National  and  International   Trades- 
Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  Greeting':  — 
BROTHERS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  LABOR  :  —  We,  the  Knights  of  Labor,  in  Gen- 
eral Assembly  convened,  extend  our   heartiest  greeting  to  all  branches  of 
honorable  toil,  welcoming  them  to  the  most  friendly  union   in   a  common 
work. 

This  organization  embraces  within  its  folds  all  branches  of  honorable  toil, 
and  all  conditions  of  men,  without  respect  to  trades,  occupations,  sex,  creed, 


424  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

color,  or  nationality.  We  seek  to  raise  the  level  of  wages,  and  reduce  the 
hours  oflabor;  to  protect  men  and  women  in  their  occupations,  in  their  lives 
and  limbs,  and  in  their  rights  as  citizens.  We  seek,  also,  to  secure  such 
legislation  as  shall  tend  to  prevent  the  unjust  accumulation  of  wealth,  to 
restrict  the  power  of  monopolies  and  corporations,  and  to  enact  such  wise 
and  beneficent  legislation  as  shall  promote  equity  and  justice,  looking  for- 
ward to  the  day  when  co-operation  shall  supersede  the  wage-system,  and  the 
castes  and  classes  that  now  divide  men  shall  be  forever  abolished. 

We  recognize  the  service  rendered  to  humanity  and  the  cause  of  labor  by 
trades-union  organizations;  but  believe  that  the  time  has  come,  or  is  fast 
approaching,  when  all  who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow  shall 
be  enrolled  under  one  general  head,  as  we  are  controlled  by  one  common 
law, —  the  law  of  our  necessities  ;  and  we  will  gladly  welcome  to  our  ranks,  or 
to  protection  under  our  banner,  any  organization  requesting  admission. 
And  to  such  organizations  as  believe  that  their  craftsmen  are  better  protected 
under  their  present  form  of  government,  we  pledge  ourselves,  as  members 
of  the  great  Army  of  Labor,  to  co-operate  with  them  in  every  honorable  effort 
to  achieve  the  success  which  we  are  unitedly  organized  to  obtain ;  and  to  this 
end  we  have  appointed  a  special  committee  to  confer  with  a  like  committee 
of  any  national  or  international  trades-union,  which  shall  desire  to  confer 
with  us  on  the  settlement  of  any  difficulties  that  may  occur  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  several  organizations. 

We  have  received  a  communication  from  a  committee  of  some  of  the  Na- 
tional and  International  Trades-Unions,  requesting  certain  specific  legislation 
at  our  hands  ;  but  as  we  believe  that  the  object  sought  and  stated  in  the  pre- 
amble to  the  communication  above  referred  to,  can  best  be  accomplished  by  a 
conference  between  a  committee  of  this  association  and  a  committee  of  any 
other  organization,  and  as  the  propositions  contained  therein  are  inconsistent 
with  our  dutv  to  our  members,  we  therefore  defer  action  upon  said  proposi- 
tions until  a  conference  of  committees  can  be  held. 

The  basis  upon  which  we  believe  an  agreement  can  be  reached  would  nec- 
essarily include  the  adoption  of  some  plan  by  which  all  labor  organizations 
could  be  protected  from  unfair  men, —  rrien  expelled,  suspended,  under  fine,  or 
guilty  of  taking  places  of  union «nen,  or  Knights  of  Labor  while  on  strike  or 
while  locked  out  from  work;  and  that  as  far  as  possible  a  uniform  standard 
of  hours  of  labor  and  wages  should  be  adopted,  so  that  men  of  any  trade, 
enrolled  in  our  Order,  and  members  of  trades-unions  may  not  come  in  con- 
flict because  of  a  difference  in  wages  or  hours  of  labor.  We  also  believe  that 
a  system  of  exchanging  working-cards  should  be  adopted,  so  that  members 
of  any  craft,  belonging  to  different  organizations  could  work  in  harmony 
together,  —  the  card  of  anv  member  of  this  Order  admitting  men  to  work  in 
any  union  shop,  and  the  card  of  any  union  man  admitting  him  to  work  in 
any  Knights  of  Labor  shop. 

We  further  believe  that,  upon  a  demand  for  increase  of  wages,  or  shorter 
hours  oflabor,  made  by  either  organization,  a  conference  should  be  held  with 
the  organized  labor  men  employed  in  the  establishment  where  the  demand 
for  increase  of  wages  or  reduction  of  hours  is  contemplated, — action  upon  a 
proposed  reduction  of  wages  or  other  difficulty  to  be  agreed  upon  in  like 
manner;  and  that,  in  the  settlement  of  any  difficulties  between  employers 


STRIKES. 


425 


and  employees,  the  organizations  represented  in  the  establishment  shall  be 
parties  to  the  terms  of  settlement. 

Trusting  that  the  method  proposed  herein  will  meet  with  your  approval, 
and  that  organized  labor  will  move  forward  and  onward  in  harmony  of  effort 
and  of  interest,  we  are  yours  fraternally. 

The  members  of  the  committee  recommending  the  above 
circular  to  the  General  Assembly  were  Frank  K.  Foster, 
chairman  ;  Henry  Mente,  William  H.  Smith,  P.  H.  Cummins, 
J.  J.  McCartney,  Robert  Schilling,  Oliver  Otis,  L.  L.  Cona- 
way,  and  George  E.  McNeill. 

Among  the  cases  settled  by  arbitration,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Order,  in  1885,  was  the  great  Dueber  Watch  Company 
lockout,  which  lasted  many  months,  and  was  finally  set- 
tled by  the  reinstatement  of  the  men.  The  strike  on  the 
Wabash  system  of  railroads,  after  a  large  amount  of  corre- 
spondence, was  settled  by  the  following  agreement :  — 

That  no  official  should  discriminate  against  the  Knights  of  Labor,  or  ques- 
tion the  right  of  the  employee  to  belong  to  our  Order. 

That  all  employees  locked  out  June  16,  1885,  or  who  came  out  in  their  sup- 
port since  that  date,  should  be  reinstated  as  fast  as  possible. 

That  no  new  person  should  be  put  to  work  by  the  officials  of  the  company 
until  all  the  old  employees  locked  out,  or  came  out  since  the  lockout,  who 
desire  employment,  are  reinstated. 

KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR    STRIKES. 

Reference  to  the  chapter  on  the  Preamble  and  Declaration 
of  Principles  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  will  show  that  it  is  the 
desire  of  this  Order,  as  it  is  of  all  labor  organizations,  to 
do  away  with  strikes.  They  have  made  the  principle  of 
arbitration  especially  prominent,  —  not  only  asking  of  legisla- 
tive bodies  that  courts  of  arbitration  may  be  established,  but 
that  the  members  themselves  may  seek  a  settlement  of  all 
disputes  by  this  means.  The  largest  part  of  the  time  of  the 
General  Executive  Committee,  as  well  as  that  of  the  district 
and  local  executive  boards,  have  been  given  to  attempts  to 
settle  disputes  in  this  wray.  Under  the  laws  of  the  Order, 
every  possible  effort  must  be  made  to  avoid  strikes.  When 
a  grievance  occurs  in  any  establishment,  it  is  referred  to  the 
local  assembly  having  jurisdiction ;  or,  where  more  than  one 


426  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

assembly  exists,  and  persons  employed  in  the  establishment 
are  members  of  more  than  one,  joint  boards  of  arbitration  are 
established,  a  committee  of  the  board  presents  the  grievance 
to  the  employer,  and  many  difficulties  have  been  settled  by 
these  local  boards  without  the  knowledge  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. In  case  of  the  refusal  of  the  employer  to  meet  the  com- 
mittee, or  if  a  satisfactory  arrangement  cannot  be  reached, 
the  case  is  referred  to  the  District  Executive  Board ;  and,  in 
case  of  a  failure  on  their  part,  a  statement  of  the  case  is  pre- 
sented to  each  local  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  district,  and 
the  members  are  requested  to  vote  upon  the  question  of 
whether  or  not  a  strike  shall  be  ordered.  Neither  the  local 
nor  the  district  -board  has  the  right  to  order  a  strike  where 
more  than  twenty-five  persons  are  involved.  If  a  strike  is 
ordered  by  a  local  assembly  on  the  vote  of  its  members,  they 
have  no  right  to  the  assistance  fund ;  and  where  the  district 
orders  any  strike  without  first  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the 
General  Executive  Board,  no  assistance  can  be  claimed  out- 
side of  the  district.  Every  effort  is  made  to  conserve  the 
strength  of  the  Order.  Many  of  the  local  district  strikes 
have  been  forced  upon  the  men  by  attempts  of  the  employers 
to  break  up  the  organization  by  the  discharge  of  its  members. 

The  space  for  this  chapter  will  not  allow  even  a  summary 
of  the  strikes  that  have  occurred.  At  certain  periods  strike- 
epidemics  prevail,  and  the  organization  is  no  more  respon- 
sible for  their. breaking  out  than  the  Government  is  for  any 
epidemic  which  science  fails  to  prevent  or  check.  It  is  true 
that  the  Government  is  responsible  for  the  conditions  which 
furnish  opportunities  for  epidemics  and  contagions.  Lack  of 
sanitary  laws,  as  well  as  a  failure  of  enforcement  of  such  laws 
as  exist,  have  much  to  do  with  the  existence  of  these  monster 
evils ;  but  the  poverty  of  the  masses  is  the  prime  cause  of 
pestilence,  as  of  most  of  the  vices  and  crimes  that  afflict 
mankind.  As  the  Order  grows  in  wisdom  as  well  as  in  power 
of  numbers,  strikes  will  become  less  frequent. 

The  history  of  some  of  the  labor  organizations  prove  that 
strikes  can  be  averted.  When  an  employer  knows  that  to  re- 
duce wages  without  first  consulting  with  the  organizations 


THE    CO-OPERATIVE    BOARD. 


427 


represented  in  his  establishment  may  cause  him  such  a 
lengthened  period  of  inaction  as  not  only  to  destroy  his  profit, 
but  diminish  the  value  of  his  plant,  he  will  hesitate  before 
action.  So,  too,  the  employees  will  hesitate  to  enforce  their 
demands  for  an  advance  of  wages,  when  they  have  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  markets,  as  well  as  of  the 
individual  enterprise,  and  know  that  a  strike  at  such  a  time 
would  jeopardize  their  own  interests. 

The  Knights  of  Labor,  while  attempting  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  the  inevitable  difficulties  under  the  wage-system,  use 
every  effort  to  inculcate  the  principles  of  co-operation,  and 
give  encouragement  to  co-operative  enterprises.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  have  established  a  co-operative  board,  whose 
reports  contain  not  only  an  account  of  the  co-operative  efforts 
coming  under  their  observation,  but  they  also  publish  able  and 
earnest  arguments  in  the  direction  of  co-operative  effort. 
The  most  remarkable  strikes  of  the  Order,  having  occurred 
during  the  present  year,  are  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  people  ; 
and,  while  those  that  have  attracted  the  most  attention  —  like 
the  great  South-western  Railroad  strike  —  have  proved  fail- 
ures, others  have  proved  remarkably  successful.  But  the 
proudest  claim  that  the  Knights  can  make  is  in  the  advance  of 
wages  and  the  improved  opportunities  that  have  been  gained 
through  the  numerical  and  moral  force  of  the  organization, 
whether  secured  through  the  use  of  the  boycott,  as  in  the 
Dueber  Watch-Case  Company,  or  by  conciliation,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  horse-railroad  employees  of  Boston. 

The  boycott  against  the  Dueber  Watch-Case  Company  was 
justified  by  the  act  of  the  proprietor,  —  he  having  discharged 
all  the  members  of  the  Order  in  his  employ,  and  refused  to 
treat  with  the  General  Executive  Board.  It  is  only  just  to  say 
of  Mr.  Dueber,  that,  when  he  finally  decided  to  retrace  his 
steps,  he  was  as  emphatically  conciliatory  as  he  had  been  de- 
terminedly aggressive.  The  success  of  the  horse-car  em- 
ployees of  Boston  was  largely  due  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
president  of  the  Metropolitan  Railroad.  But  for  his  genial 
acceptance  of  the  situation  and  ready  compliance  to  the 
wishes  of  the  men,  every  horse-car  running  in  Boston  would 


428  THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

have  been  tied  up.  The  men  on  this  and  other  roads  acted 
with  commendable  patience  ;  and  their  thanks  are  due  more  to 
T.  C.  Thompson,  Master  Workman,  Local  Assembly  2898, 
than  to  any  other  person.  The  editor,  as  a  colleague  of  Mr. 
Thompson  in  this  work,  feels  that  historical  accuracy  de- 
mands this  statement ;  and  special  attention  is  called  to  this 
case,  because  an  advance  of  wages  and  a  reduction  of  hours 
were  gained  without  the  stoppage  of  a  car  or  the  loss  of  a 
day's  work. 

The  local  assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  counted 
by  the  thousands,  furnish  the  wage-workers  of  the  continent 
with  opportunities  of  association  and  advancement  never  be- 
fore enjoyed.  From  Maine  to  California,  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf,  in  all  the  States  and  Territories,  in  the  lumber  regions 
and  in  the  mines,  amidst  the  fluff  of  the  textile  industries, 
amidst  the  din  of  the  iron  hammer,  in  workshop  and  store, 
wherever  men  and  women  are  congregated,  —  in  the  village 
and  upon  the  plantation, — the  Knights  of  Labor  are  marching 
on  to  ultimate  victory. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    CHINESE    AND    THE    LABOR    QUESTION. 

CHINA  THE  RESERVOIR  OF  CHEAP  LABOR  —  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN 
CHINA  —  THEIR  HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS  —  OPINIONS'OF  W.  W.  STONE  — 
CAUCASIAN  AND  MONGOLIAN  —  EXPENSES  OF  CIVILIZATION  —  THE  Six 
COMPANIES  —  SEEKING  THE  CHEAPEST  LABOR  —  FEMALE  SLAVES  — 
THE  CHRISTIANITY  OF  THE  CHINESE  EXEMPLIFIED  —  THE  NOBILITY 
OF  GOLD  —  THE  GATHERING  PAGAN  HOST  —  CAPTURING  THE  TRADES 
—  THE  UNITED  WORKMEN  —  THE  CHINESE  TAXES  —  LEGISLATION  IN 
RESPECT  OF  CHINESE  IMMIGRATION  BY  CONGRESSMAN  MORRILL  —  THE 
BUILDING  OF  A  STATE  —  LEGISLATIVE  DISCUSSION  IN  CALIFORNIA,  IN 
1882 — THE  MONTHLY  TAX  —  ACT  OF  1862 — THE  BURLINGAME  TREA- 
TY—  APPEAL  TO  CONGRESS  —  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ONE  MIND  —  TREATY 
OF  1880  —  RESTRICTIVE  LEGISLATION  —  AMERICAN  INTEREST  IN  CHINA. 

CHINA  is  the  reservoir  of  the  cheap  labor  of  the  world. 
Her  centuries  of  growth  have  been  followed  by  centuries 
of  reaction.  Walled  in  by  laws,  customs  and  religion,  her 
people  have  crowded  against  each  other  until  her  civilization 
has  become  stunted,  her  people  pygmies  and  her  women 
slaves.  With  wonderful  skill  in  handicrafts,  and  imitative 
power  unequalled,  she  has  wrought  no  wonders  and  performed 
no  service  to  humanity.  Her  mountains  are  full  of  ores,  un- 
worked ;  for  man-power  is  cheaper  than  horse-power,  and 
machinery  is  practically  unknown.  Her  economy  of  living 
is  but  another  name  for  starvation.  Her  people  being  unread 
in  the  history  of  the  outer  world,  unused  to  travel,  and  with- 
out the  inspiration  of  hope  or  the  knowledge  of  better  oppor- 
tunities, emigration  is  practically  a  banishment.  That  this 
people  should  flow  over  to  the  land  where  the  highest  wages 
were  paid,  and  the  highest  conditions  of  life  were  enjoyed,  is 
a  wonder  of  the  nineteenth  century,  if  the  artificial  causes 
that  operated  to  produce  this  result  were  not  known.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  tempted  not  only  the  mechan- 
ics and  farmers  of  the  States  and  of  Europe,  but  tempted  the 

(429) 


43O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

avarice  of  the  capitalists  at  whose  bidding  the  Six  Chinese 
Companies  were  formed.  Gold  flowed  from  the  mines  into 
the  hands  of  the  miners ;  but  also  into  the  hands  of  the  specu- 
lators. Land-steals  were  common,  not  only  under  the  old 
Spanish  land-grants,  but  by  processes  of  surveying  and 
forced  titles,  evicting  squatter  and  farmer ;  and  because  of 
the  high  price  of  food,  rendering  the  cultivation  of  large 
farms  profitable,  more  money  was  to  be  realized  by  the  im- 
portation of  cheap  labor  than  from  almost  any  other  source. 
Farm-laborers  and  servants  were  needed,  and  the  wages  of 
mechanics  were  necessarily  lifted  to  something  near  the  earn- 
ings of  the  miners. 

The  secret  history  of  the  Six  Companies  may  never  be 
written  ;  but  the  accomplished  fact  stands  out  before  the  world 
that  these  companies  brought  over  to  California  hordes  of 
"  cooly  "  laborers  under  contracts  and  conditions  more  baneful 
to  our  civilization  than  the  importation  of  the  African  slave. 
The  story  of  the  mid-passage  has  been  told ;  the  story  of  the 
importation  of  the  Chinese  "  cooly  "  is  unwritten. 

That  conflicts  should  occur  between  the  white  miner  and 
the  Chinese  was  but  natural ;  for  the  miner,  coming  from  the 
centres  of  civilization,  had  become  somewhat  brutalized.  His 
home  was  a  cabin,  without  the  refining  influences  of  mother 
or  wife  or  child.  But  it  was  not  until  the  demand  for  crafts- 
men in  the  realms  of  organized  industry  that  the  contest 
between  the  two  races  reached  its  highest  point.  From  the 
high-tide  of  unexampled  incomes,  white  labor  was  crowded 
down  to  its  lowest  ebb.  The  Chinaman  could  live  as  he  lived 
in  China,  while  the  emigrant  from  other  lands  was  soon 
brought  up  to  American  habits  and  customs.  From  the 
crowding  out  of  the  workman,  they  soon  found  it  practical 
and  possible  to  crowd  out  the  employer ;  for  no  manufacturer 
employing  white  labor  could  compete  with  the  Chinese  em- 
ployer having  his  own  countrymen  as  employees.  Their 
habits,  their  language  and  their  religion  necessitated  a  crowd- 
ing together  until  they  covered  street  after  street  with  their 
workshops,  gambling-saloons,  houses  of  prostitution,  tene- 
ments and  joss-houses.  Every  part  of  the  building  from 


COOLY        LABORERS. 


431 


cellar  to  attic  is  crowded  full  of  human  life,  and  furniture  and 
the  usual  appliances  of  civilization  are  unknown.  Their  beds 
are  bunks,  built  on  the  sides  and  in  the  centres  of  the  rooms ; 
their  furniture,  a  board  table  ;  their  cutlery,  chop-sticks.  They 
make  no  demand  for  the  products  of  other  labor.  These 
habits  are  not  only  common  to  California,  but  wherever  these 
people  settle  in  numbers.  In  the  report  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  for  1871,  a  description  is 
given  of  the  Chinese  "  cooly^"  laborers  employed  at  shoe- 
making  at  North  Adams,  from  which  we  quote  :  — 

We  found  there  seventy-three  men,  clad  in  cotton  cloth,  with  cheap  Chinese 
hats  and  shoes.  Their  dining-tables  were  made  of  pine  boards,  without  cov- 
ering; their  chairs  were  wooden  benches;  their  sleeping-places  bunks  on  the 
sides  of  the  room,  with  thin  mattresses  and  scant  bedding.  The  dinner-set 
for  every  six  persons  was  a  bowl  for  each,  a  platter  with  boiled  pork  and  pota- 
toes cut  into  bits,  a  tin  pan  filled  with  boiled  rice,  with  ladle  to  dip  it  into 
each  man's  bowl,  and  their  table-cutlery  a  pair  of  chopsticks  for  each,  what 
tea  they  took  being  taken  in  the  same  rice-bowl. 

And  the  Bureau  asks  this  question  :  "  What  industrial  pro- 
duction is  stimulated  by  such  a  laboring  population?"  and 
then  gives  this  answer  :  — 

The  woollen  and  cotton-mills  of  Lowell  and,  Lawrence,  of  Fall  River  and 
Salisbury,  the  cutlery-works  of  Shelburne  Falls,  the  furniture-factories  of 
Essex  and  Worcester  counties,  the  hat-factories  of  Methuen,  the  boot  and 
shoe-factories  of  Milford,  the  Bridgewaters  and  Lynn  —  nay,  more,  the 
authors  and  publishers,  the  newspapers  and  expressmen,  the  railroads,  all  the 
varied  industries  of  the  Commonwealth,  would  be  brought  to  ruin  under  such 
a  method  of"  breaking  down  the  nuisance  of  trades-unions,"  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which  is  the  declared  intent  of  this  cheap  and  ignorant  labor. 

At  first,  the  Chinamen  were  laughed  at  by  some ;  but  they 
were  welcomed  by  the  controlling  classes.  In  the  public 
procession  in  celebration  of  the  admission  of  California  into 
the  Union,  Chinese  were  a  conspicuous  feature.  They  were 
spoken  of  as  "  our  elder  brothers."  Their  presence  was 
welcomed  as  affording  opportunity  of  doing  them  good,  and 
influencing  their  native  land.  History  had  given  its  warning 
of  the  threatened  danger.  Every  writer  conversant  with  the 
habits  and  customs  of  the  race,  and  every  experiment  of  their 
settlements  had  proved  that  this  people  were  moral  and  spirit- 


432 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


ual  lepers.  Before  the  settlement  of  this  continent,  they  had 
been  ordered  to  leave  Manilla ;  and  such  was  the  hatred 
engendered  by  their  habits  that  over  fifty  thousand  of  them 
were  massacred  by  the  Spaniards  within  fifty  years.  In  1740, 
twelve  thousand  were  massacred  by  the  Dutch. 

[We  herewith  present  the  views  of  W.  W.  Stone,  of  Cali- 
fornia.] 

THE    CHINESE-LABOR    PROBLEM. 

In  considering  the  effect  produced  by  the  presence  of 
the  Chinese  in  the  American  world  of  labor,  writers  may 
be  pardoned  if  they  take  rather  extreme  views.  The  manu- 
facturer, as  an  employer,  rushes  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is 
obligee!  \y  some  arbitrary  power  to  go  out  in  diligent  search 
of  the  very  cheapest  producing  material  that  can,  by  any  pos- 
sible combination,  be  seized  upon.  The  laborer,  naturally, 
per  contra,  views  the  Chinaman  as  a  mere  labor-machine, 
devoid  of  intelligence,  utterly  destitute  of  ambition  and  reason, 
and  willingly  working  for  the  mere  purpose  of  existence. 
Here  is  an  antagonism,  but  it  is  artificial,  —  not  natural.  The 
manufacturer  produces  for  the  love  of  gain.  His  masters  are 
the  laboring  consumers ;  and  the  more  well-to-do  the  master, 
the  greater  the  consumption.  On  the  other  hand,  the  con- 
sumer patronizes,  not  for  any  regard  for  the  manufacturer, 
but  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  necessities.  The  manufacturer, 
therefore,  is  the  agent  or  servant  of  the  laborer,  and  has  no 
rights  or  standing  over  or  above  any  other  equal  factor.  Ex- 
tremes here  meet ;  and,  instead  of  standing  on  neutral  ground, 
sound  results  can  be  best  attained  by  reasoning  from  the 
stand-point  of  the  general  welfare. 

It  is  the  basic  principle  of  this  government  that  every  citi- 
zen has  a  right  to  enjoy  and  to  exercise  the  various  faculties 
of  mind,  soul  and  body,  as  long  as  that  enjoyment  does  not 
infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others.  In  the  exercise  of  these 
rights,  a  man  may  not  store  explosives  in  the  midst  of  a  com- 
munity, because  of  the  danger  to  others  ;  he  may  not  ampu- 
tate a  sound  limb,  because  he  is  liable,  by  so  doing,  to  become 
a  burden  on  the  community ;  he  is  restricted  in  the  use  and 


THE    SIX    COMPANIES. 


433 


sale  of  poisons  to  mind  or  body  ;  he  is  morally  and  often 
legally  obliged  to  educate  himself  up  to  a  proper  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  his  rights  and  duties  as  a  citizen.  We 
thus  see  that  the  purer  the  democracy,  the  nearer  we  approach 
to  a  grand  co-operative,  mutually  protective  association.  Here 
is  where  the  Chinese-labor  question  enters  as  a  discordant  ele- 
ment. From  his  cradle,  the  Chinese  serf  is  disciplined  in  the 
doctrine  of  nonentity.  He  was  born  under  a  government 
having  a  spiritual  and  a  temporal  head ;  and  he  is,  therefore, 
mangled  body  and  soul.  His  temporal  government  is  of  the 
patriarchal  type,  and  the  sins  of  one  of  a  family  are  visited 
upon  the  heads  of  the  remainder. 

It  does  not  require  much  knowledge  of  human  nature  to 
arrive  at  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  an  element  trained  in 
such  a  school  cannot  possibly  sympathize  with  our  plan  of 
co-operation.  Every  item  in  such  a  training  is  only  another 
barrier  to  assimilation.  Properly  apply  all  these  conditions 
in  the  consideration  of  the  labor  problem,  and  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  will  be  fully  appreciated. 

The  manufacturer  of  to-day,  rejecting  the  co-operative  plan 
of  our  governmental  system,  goes  into  the  labor  market  and 
calls  for  the  lowest  bidder.  In  answer  to  the  call,  the  Cauca- 
sian and  the  Mongolian  commences  to  figure  upon  the  basis 
of  living  prices.  The  Caucasian  must  add  to  his  own  indi- 
vidual needs  the  cost  of  maintaining  a  wife  and  family. 
There  is  rent  to  pay,  clothing  to  be  provided,  books  to  buy, 
and,  added  to  all  this,  the  many  little  wants  that  arise  out  of 
the  conditions  of  a  Christian  civilization.  The  Mongolian 
comes  much  closer  to  the  wind.  He  is  a  mere  servile  unit  in 
one  of  the  Six  Companies.  He  has  a  merely  nominal  rent ;  for 
he  is  content  with  a  little  shelf  in  a  barrack-structure,  fashioned 
after  the  forecastle  of  a  sea-going  vessel.  He  is  not  burdened 
with  the  cares  and  expenses  of  family,  because  he  is  content 
with  a  fractional  interest  in  the  body  of  a  female  slave ;  his 
food  and  clothing,  imported  almost  entirely  from  his  native 
country,  cost  him  about  $7  per  month.  The  maintenance  of 
a  Caucasian  family  ranges  from  $40  to  $50  per  month. 
Figuring  from  these  bases,  can  it  be  otherwise  than  inevitable 

(28) 


434  •  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

that  Caucasian  labor  must  go  to  the  wall  ?  The  uninitiated 
declare  that  this  in  time  will  be  righted ;  that  the  laws  of 
trade  will  equalize  and  adjust  conditions  and  rates,  making 
eventually  a  satisfactory  equilibrium.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States  is 
50,000,000,  while  just  outside  of  the  portals  of  our  Golden 
Gate  400,000,000  Mongolians  are  engaged  in  a  desperate 
struggle  for  existence.  The  insignificant  fraction  of  this 
overwhelming  host  now  swarming  on  the  Pacific  coast  have 
not  gained  any  individuality  by  migration.  The  presidents 
of  the  Six  Companies  know  that  Chinese  labor  is  accepted,  not 
because  it  is  better,  but  because  it  is  cheaper.  As  fast,  there- 
fore, as  the  rate  of  wages  for  white  labor  falls,  these  serf- 
owners  lower  their  scale,  always  underbidding  the  Caucasian 
rates.  In  this  way  the  Christian,  with  his  helpless  family,  is 
jostled  aside,  and  the  pagan  slave  fitted  in  his  place. 

A  year  or  so  ago,  the  writer  was  talking  to  a  well-informed 
Chinaman  on  the  question  of  American  toleration.  "You 
will  live  to  see  the  day,"  said  the  Chinaman,  "when  we  shall 
control  the  labor-market  of  the  whole  of  this  country."  It  is  an 
inexorable  fact  that  this  country  must  be  either  all  Caucasian 
or  all  Mongolian.  Are  wre  ready  to  submit  to  absorption?  I 
think  that  the  patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  American 
people  rise  to  a  higher  plane.  An  eminent  authority  has  said 
that  if  American  muscle  cannot  compete  with  Mongolian 
labor,  then  the  American  'must  go  to  the  ivall !  Can  we 
afford  the  price?  To  compete  with  success,  we  must  cut 
down  all  expenses  outside  of  the  bare  items  of  animal  exist- 
ence. We  must  shut  up  our  schools,  for  these  institutions 
cultivate  a  craving  for  a  living  above  the  mere  animal.  We 
must  close  up  the  churches,  because  the  Chinaman  has  no 
day  of  rest.  We  must  sweep  away  a  thousand  and  one 
products  of  Christian  civilization,  because  Christianity,  in  its 
essence,  elevates  mankind  above  the  groveling  instincts  of  the 
animal  of  the  field,  and  encourages  a  life  of  intelligence 
and  self-improvement.  Surely  no  just  student  of  industrial 
economy  will  deny  the  fairness  of  these  conclusions.  The 
conditions  of  the  problem  are  justly  set  forth,  without  exagger- 


CONTROLLING    THE    TRADES. 


435 


ation.  The  cold-blooded  query  is,  Shall  the  area  of  the 
United  States  be  a  vast  auction-block,  on  which  labor  is  to  be 
offered  up  at  lowest  prices?  If  so,  then  civilization  must  step 
down  to  give  room  to  barbarism.  To  compete  successfully 
under  such  a  system  there  must  be  an  intelligent  sacrifice  of 
every  want  above  the  mere  animal  necessity  ;  and,  as  such  a 
sacrifice  carries  with  it  a  loss  of  mentality,  there  must  survive 
a  class  whose  province  would  be  to  maintain  the  level.  We 
hold  that  the  American  Union  is  based  on  business  principles 
of  mutual  co-operation.  Every  individual  of  the  firm  has  a 
duty  to  perform  in  contributing  to  the  industrial  welfare,  and 
in  return  is-  entitled  to  compensation  on  a  scale  that  shall  en- 
able him  to  maintain  his  standing  as  an  intelligent  factor. 
Proceeding  on  this  basis,  the  manufacturer  has  asked  for  pro- 
tection against  the  importation  of  the  product  of  pauper-labor. 
The  request  has  been  complied  with.  Now,  the  laborer  raises 
his  voice,  and  asks  for  protection  against  the  -pauper  himself. 
We  do  not  ask  for  a  sweeping  restriction  that  shall  prevent 
the  incoming  of  intelligent  and  assimilative  toilers.  We  ask 
this  protection,  not  only  for  the  same  reasons  urged  by  the 
manufacturer,  but  on  broader  grounds.  We  ask  protection 
from  an  element  that,  in  coming,  receives,  but  does  not  give ; 
makes,  but  does  not  use ;  enjoys  advantages,  but  does  not 
return  benefits.  That  this  antagonism  is  not  trivial  or  im- 
aginative, we  have  only  to  point  to  the  industrial  history  of 
the  Pacific  coast.  We  find  the  Chinaman  controlling  the 
boot  and  shoe-trade,  and  yet,  without  exception,  he  sends  to 
China  for  his  shuffling  slipper.  He  supplies  the  trade  with 
cigars,  and  yet  smokes  nothing  but  an  opium-laden  pipe.  He 
entirely  usurps  the  making  of  underwear,  he  throws  thousands 
of  female  washers  and  sewers  out  of  employment,  and,  with- 
out a  thought  of  reciprocity,  he  bands  with  a  number  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  and  sends  to  China  for  a  female  slave  to 
be  farmed  out  as  a  satisfaction  to  the  vile  lust  of  the  commu- 
nity. He  is  a  pagan  and  a  monarchist,  and  leaves  behind 
hostages  for  his  allegiance.  He  cannot  become  either  an 
American  citizen  or  a  Christian.  No  Christian  will  sacrifice 
his  loved  ones  for  commercial  advantages  ;  and,  therefore,  par- 


436  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

adoxical  as  it  may  seem,  tne  more  consistent  the  pagan,  the 
better  the  Christian  ! 

I  do  not  know  that  I  violate  any  confidence  in  narrating 
a  conversation  between  a  so-called  Chinese  Christian  and  Mr. 
J.  G.  Kennedy,  ex-Superintendent  of  Schools,  of  San  Jose, 
California.  A  lady  belonging  to  the  San  Jose  Christian 
Chinese  Mission  had  recommended  Ah  Wow  as  an  excellent 
Christian.  In  course  of  conversation,  after  the  introduction, 
the  question  of  Christianity  was  alluded  to,  Ah  Wow  speaking 
of  it  rather  slightingly.  I  give  the  rest  verbatim  :  — 

MR.  KENNEDY  :     I  thought  you  were  a  Christian,  Ah   Wow  ! 

AH  Wow  :     No !     I  no  such  ting.     I  allee  same  Chinaman. 

MR.  KENNEDY  :     So  you  do  not  believe  in  Christ? 

AH  Wow:  No,  no!  d Clist!  I  no  flaid.  Chinaman  go  mission, 

gettee  little  jobs.  Ole  women  play  and  men  pleach.  Velly  good  for  China- 
man wantee  work.  Plenty  work, '  legion  go  to  h 

This  is  about  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  Chinese  creed. 

Here  on  the  Pacific  coast,  we  may  see  every  day  the  evi- 
dences of  human  skill  and  energy  in  the  tearing  down  of 
mountains  and  filling  up  of  swamps.  Apply  this  energy  to 
the  leveling  of  the  field  of  labor  by  the  introduction  of  an 
element  such  as  we  have  pictured ;  throw  open  our  groaning 
Gate  and  let  the  surplus  of  400,00x3,000  roll  in  from  the  over- 
laden West,  and  you  will  have  such  a  leveling  as  was  experi- 
enced when  the  Zuyder  Zee  burst  over  its  boundaries  and 
engulfed  the  cities  and  towns  of  Holland,  leaving  nothing 
visible  above  the  sullen  waters  but  an  occasional  church-spire 
that  stood  as  a  mournful  evidence  of  an  engulfed  civilization. 
How  much  more  consistent  with  the  principles  of  co-operation 
and  Christianity  is  the  system  that  comprehends  the  establish- 
ment of  a  board  of  arbitration  that  shall  so  regulate  the  rate 
of  wages  that  the  humblest  citizen  may  not  only  satisfy  the 
wants  of  the  mere  animal,  but  that  he  may  possess  means  by 
which  he  may  maintain  the  dignity  of  an  American  freeman  ! 
This  leads  on  to  the  deprecatory  exclamations  adopted  by  a 
few  who  are  temporarily  benefited  in  a  pecuniary  way  by  the 
employment  of  Chinese  labor.  We  sometimes  hear  these 
people  say  :  "  We  cannot  rely  upon  our  white  help  !  We- 


THE    NOBILITY    OF    GOLD. 


437 


are  compelled  to  use  the  Chinese,  because  we  find  them  obedi- 
ent, submissive,  tractable,  and  cheap."  All  this  was  urged 
by  the  Southern  planter,  when  he  drew  upon  Africa  fora  con- 
tingent labor  fund.  The  sturdy  yeomanry  who  landed  upon 
Plymouth  Rock,  or  who  braved  death  under  a  hundred  guises 
in  the  wilds  of  a  new  world,  were  not  the  men  to  tamely  sub- 
mit to  the  imperious  exactions  of  petty  landholders,  who 
wanted  labor-machines,  and  not  men.  The  ignorant  and  sub- 
missive son  of  the  Dark  Continent  has  been  eagerly  seized 
upon  as  an  available  substitute.  The  student  of  American 
history  need  not  have  pointed  out  to  him  the  instructive 
tableaux-vivants  furnished  in  the  progress  of  our  experi- 
ence in  the  use  of  submissive  and  tractable  labor.  The 
Missouri  Compromise,  the  Mexican  struggle,  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  warfare,  and  the  Great  Rebellion  are  pictures  not 
forgotten.  The  fact  is,  there  is  a  class  rapidly  growing 
up  in  America,  who  believe  in  the  nobility  of  gold.  This 
class  act  upon  the  assumption  that  the  acceptation  of  wage- 
money  carries  with  it  a  forfeiture  of  manhood  or  woman- 
hood. To  this  class  the  advent  of  mere  labor-machines  is 
a  godsend. 

That  Chinese  labor  comprehends  a  system  of  slavery  is  a 
fact  that  it  is  idle  to  deny  ;  and  to  invite  immigration  is  only  to 
welcome  a  repetition  of  our  past  experience.  It  should  be 
understood  that  we  have  here  the  flower  and  the  cream  of 
the  Chinese  working-world, — the  young,  the  ambitious,  the 
strong  and  energetic  of  the  race ;  and  yet,  withal,  the  Cauca- 
sian rejects  this  infusion  for  the  pure  blood  of  the  manly 
American.  Look  at  the  history  of  the  many  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  wherein  these  heathen  have  gained  permanent 
footing  !  Without  exception,  the  progress  of  the  invader  has 
been  marked  by  outbursts  of  volcanic  wrath,  deluging  the 
devoted  territories  with  fire,  blood,  loathsome  diseases  and 
unbridled  lust.  We  sometimes  come  across  some  short- 
sighted writer,  who,  having  availed  himself  of  the  services  of 
one  of  these  servile,  obsequious,  and  apparently  self-sacrificing 
pagans,  instantly  institutes  a  comparison  between  this  speci- 
men and  some  degraded  sample  of  Caucasian  he  has  chanced 


438  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

to  meet,  and  concludes  from  this  comparison  that  the  Asiatic 
race  is  the  superior  element  in  the  field  of  labor.  To  such, 
we  would  suggest  a  visit  to  the  cities  of  the  "more  favored 
nation."  There  he  would  find  the  brute  slave,  without  the 
the  first  instincts  of  the  freeman.  Our  sturdy  forefathers  of 
Revolutionary  times  never  dreamed  of  the  introduction  of  such 
an  element  into  our  body  politic,  when  they  threw  open  the 
ports  of  the  country  to  the  oppressed  of  the  world.  We  of  a 
more  enlightened  age  see  this  in  the  light  of  experience,  and 
view  with  alarm  the  danger  of  deterioration  by  reason  of 
non-assimilating  material.  It  must  not  be  taken  for  granted 
that  this  feeling  of  antagonism  is  a  short-lived  or  a  newly- 
awakened  sentiment.  When,  in  1849,  tne  news  of  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  startled  the  laboring  world,  there  came  an 
irresistible  rush  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  The  China- 
man was  not  absent  from  the  current.  He  came  by  twos  and 
by  threes  at  first ;  but  gradually  the  number  increased,  until, 
in  1854,  tne  gathering  had  so  enlarged  that  the  subject  was 
made  a  matter  of  official  investigation  by  a  committee  of  our 
State  Senate.  Senators  Ralston,  Frey,  Soule,  Estelle  and 
Warner  composed  this  committee ;  and,  after  a  thorough 
analysis  of  the  industrial  situation,  they  presented  a  report, 
containing  a  forecast  that  shows  that  the  Labor  Question  is  a 
mathematical  rather  than  a  dogmatic  problem,  and  as  such 
is  capable  of  easy  demonstration.  Read  this  in  the  light  of 
to-day's  experience,  and  mark  the  justice  of  the  committee's 
conclusions  :  — 

The  Chinese  are  destructive  to  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  and  dangerous 
to  its  peace.  They  come,  not  as  freemen,  but  as  serfs  and  hirelings  of  a  mas- 
ter. It  needs  no  Solomon  to  predict  the  result;  disputes  will  take  place,  and 
blood  will  flow,  to  be  followed  by  the  expulsion  of  a  population  who  will  be 
driven  from  the  State  by  violence  instead  of  law. 

Here  is  a  horologue  cast,  not  by  demagogues  and  time- 
servers,  but  by  grave  and  reverend  seignors,  learned  in  law, 
and  living  in  an  atmosphere  far  removed  from  idle  clamor. 
These  Senators  recognized  the  fact  that  free,  intelligent  and 
well-remunerated  labor  is  one  of  the  important  elements  of  a 
republican  government. 


A    LABOR    OASIS. 


439 


The  greater  the  remuneration  for  labor,  the  better  the 
patronage  from  the  laborer.  Some  of  our  near-sighted  manu- 
facturers could  not  see  this.  They  looked  around  with  long- 
ing eyes  for  cheap  labor.  In  1872,  a  cigar  firm  in  San 
Francisco  concluded  that  it  was  for  their  interest  to  employ 
Chinese  help.  A  few  were  taken  on,  and  taught  the  mys- 
teries of  the  trade.  At  that  time,  cigar-manufacturers  were 
growing  rich  ;  dealers  were  doing  well,  and  cigar-makers 
prospered.  To-day,  we  find  8,000  Chinamen  controlling 
the  entire  trade.  Here,  as  in  other  branches,  the  manufac- 
turer has  been  "hoist  by  his  own  petard,"  for  the  factory- 
hand  has  assumed  the  role  of  manufacturer.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  about  five  millions  of  dollars  are  annually 
sent  to  China  by  the  cigar-trade  alone.  So  independent  and 
arrogant  had  the  Mongolian  become,  that,  in  1885,  the  guild- 
leaders  ordered  out  the  Chinese  hands  from  a  white  employ- 
er's factory,  because  the  owner  attempted  to  use  the  services 
of  a  few  white  men.  In  1870,  a  shoe-firm  taught  a  few 
Chinamen  to  make  shoes.  One  after  another  followed. 
"Wages  for  good  workmen  in  1870  averaged  about  $20  per 
week.  To-day,  some  6,000  Chinese  are  employed  in  the 
one  industry,  at  wages  ranging  from  $20  to  $30  per  month. 
Out  of  'the  sixty  boot  and  shoe-factories  of  the  city,  the 
Chinese  own  forty-eight ;  while  of  the  fifty  slipper-factories, 
every  one  is  owned  by  Chinamen. 

It  is  pleasant  in  this  desert  of  industry  to  record  an  oasis. 
As  I  write,  I  hear  the  carpenters'  hammers  ringing  merry 
changes  in  the  morning  air.  I  look  out,  and  see  workmen 
busily  engaged  in  adding  a  story  to  the  factory  of  the  United 
Workmen.  The  history  of  this  company  is  instructive.  In 
1870,  a  few  shoemakers,  indignant  at  the  influx  of  Chinese, 
left  the  bench  in  a  mixed  factory,  and  started  out  in  business 
on  their  own  account,  on  a  co-operative  plan.  They  were 
paralyzed  by  earthquakes,  benumbed  by  serf-competition  ;  but 
they  persevered.  They  turned  out  nothing  but  first-class 
goods ;  they  starved  themselves  to  buy  all  the  modern  im- 
provements in  the  mechanical  line.  Public  confidence  was 
gained  ;  and  to-day  the  poor  shoemakers  of  old  are  growing 


44°  TIIK    L.ABOR    MOVEMENT. 

rich,  with  more  orders  than  they  can  fill,  and  giving  employ- 
ment and  fair  remuneration  to  a  hundred  hands. 

I  should  like  here,  parenthetically,  as  a  Christian  and  pa- 
triot, with  all  due  reverence,  to  remark  that  we  have  even  in 
this  country  two  classes  of  Christians,  for  whom  the  remainder 
of  this  chapter  can  have  no  charms.  I  allude, — 

ist.  To  the  gentlemen  who  claim  that  the  Almighty  created 
human  workers  and  human  drones. 

2nd.  To  the  enthusiasts  who  believe  that  souls  are  embodied 
merely  for  the  work  of  salvation.  To  these  theorists  the 
question  of  wages  is  an  idle  incident.  I  desire  to  call  the 
attention  of  patriots  and  humanitarians  to  the  fact  that,  as 
countries  emerge  from  the  cloud  of  barbarism,  the  condition 
of  the  humble  toilers  rises  in  full  proportion,  the  scale  of  wages 
being  a  kind  of  civilometer,  by  which  we  can  estimate  the 
full  measure  of  elevation.  In  1870,  the  Chinese  commenced 
to  pay  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  ladies'  shoes.  At  that 
time,  workmen  were  paid  $18  per  dozen  for  a  department  in 
that  trade.  In  1872,  the  price  fell  to  $15.00;  in  1874,  to 
$14.00  :  in  1876,  to  $10.00  ;  in  1878,  to  $9.00  ;  in  1880,  to 
$7.00;  to-day,  it  is  $6.00.  In  1876,  skilful  tailors  received 
$25.00  per  week;  in  1878,  $20.00;  in  1881,  $15.00,  with 
still  a  downward  tendency.  In  1872,  sempstresses  could  make 
from  $15.00  to  $20.00  per  week.  To-day,  the  entire  trade  of 
underwear  is  absolutely  under  the  control  of  the  Chinese,  and 
women  have  been  forced  out  of  that  avenue  of  employment. 
This  may  be  called  a  dispensation  of  Providence  for  them  ;  for 
we  find  them  appearing  in  the  counting-house,  at  the  printers' 
font  and  on  the  keys  of  Morse's  telegraphic  instrument. 
Fortunately  for  them,  the  instincts  of  barbarism  are  not  in  the 
ascendancy,  or  they  would  have  been  relegated  to  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  hut  to  act  in  the  capacity  of  drudge,  as  chattel 
appendages  in  the  menial  retinue  of  lordly  masters.  It  would 
consume  too  much  space  to  enumerate  the  many  particulars 
of  our  down-sliding.  A  brief  summary  only  can  be  given. 
We  have  8,000  Chinamen  in  the  cigar-trade  to  600  whites ; 
10,000  Chinese  in  wearing-apparel ;  8,ooolaundrymen  ;  4,000 
prostitutes,  making  a  grand  total  in  all  branches  of  about 


THE    LITTLE    BROWN    MAN.' 


441 


32,000  non-affiliating,  non-consumers,  paying  taxes  on  less 
than  a  million  dollars  on  real  and  personal  property,  and 
draining  the  country  of  $8,000,000  annually. 

I  am  proud  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  are 
fully  alive  to  the  danger  of  the  situation.  As  secretary  of  the 
District  Assembly  of  California,  I  called  the  attention  of  Gene- 
ral Master  Workman  Powderly  to  our  efforts  here,  and  re- 
ceived a  reply,  concluding  in  the  following  words  :  — 

The  men  of  the  West  must  not  be  allowed  to  fight  the  battle  single-handed 
and  alone.  The  evil  they  complain  of  is  no  longer  confined  to  one  section  of  this 
country.  It  is  spreading,  and  its  evil  influences  are  being  felt  in  all  our  indus- 
trial centres,  and  if  a  desire  to  assist  our  brethren  in  a  righteous  cause  is  not 
sufficient  to  animate  us  and  spur  us  to  action,  then  self-interest  will  soon 
prompt  us  to  bestir  ourselves.  The  Order  must  act  as  a  unit  in  this  matter. 

We  frequently  hear  this  great  Republic  spoken  of  as  the 
"Great  Giant"  of  the  Western  World.  We  speak  of  the 
Chinaman  as  "the  little  brown  man."  We  are  thus  furnished 
with  materi:\l  for  a  Gulliver  romance.  Our  "Giant"  has  been 
hitherto  sleeping  in  conscious  strength.  One  by  one  the 
little  threads  of  industrial  degeneration  have  been  thrown 
around  the  quiescent  limbs,  until  a  cable-like  bond  has  fas- 
tened itself  about  our  body  politic,  and  we  awake  with  a  start 
to  find  ourselves  enmeshed  in  barbaric  thraldom.  Go  down  to 
the  "Chinatown  "  of  San  Francisco,  and  you  will  see  a  fore- 
cast of  the  condition  of  this  whole  city  before  the  close  of  the 
present  century,  if  this  evil  is  not  immediately  checked.  You 
will  find  crime  in  its  most  hideous  aspect ;  disease  in  its  most 
loathsome  form ;  vice,  ignorance  and  brutality  in  the  most 
disgusting  shape.  Here,  filth  and  utter  depravity  hold  high 
carnival,  with  surrounding  horrors  beyond  the  possibility  of 
pen  to  picture.  The  helots  of  ancient  times  were  held  up  to 
symbolize  purgatory  ;  we  point  out  the  "  Chinatown  "  of  our 
fair  city  as  a  materialized  Hell.  We  are  too  intelligent  and 
progressive  a  people  to  allow  this  industrial  tumor  to  spread. 
The  great  Fathers  of  the  Revolution  produced  a  nation  of 
freemen  ;  and  the  gallant  army  of  veterans,  gathered  this  year 
in  San  Francisco,  fought  to  perpetuate  that  birth-right.  Time 
may  be  required  to  eradicate  this  evil ;  but  I  feel  certain  that 


442  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the  people  will  to  serve  redeem 
the  land,  so  that,  by  the  time  our  children  shall  have  assumed 
our  positions  in  the  walks  of  life,  they  will  not  be  compelled 
to  struggle  with  ignorance  and  brutality  for  the  mere  right 
to  live. 

LEGISLATION    IN    RESTRAINT    OF    CHINESE    IMMIGRATION. 

[The  important  subject  of  legislation  upon  this  question  is  admirably  treated  in  the  follow- 
ing contribution  from  the  Hon.  W.  W.  Morrow,  of  California.  —  ED.] 

The  immigration  of  Chinese  into  the  United  States  com- 
menced soon  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848, 
and  was  part  of  the  large  population  suddenly  attracted  to 
that  section  from  all  parts  of  the  world  in  the  hasty  pursuit  of 
wealth.  At  first,  the  effect  of  the  strange  and  unassimilating 
"  little  brown  man  "  in  our  body  politic  was,  perhaps,  not  gen- 
erally considered,  —  for  the  reason,  doubtless,  that  but  few 
people  went  to  California  in  early  days  seeking  a  permanent 
home.  The  difficulties,  therefore,  whatever  they  might  be, 
arising  out  of  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  Chinese  in  the 
new  fields  of  industry  were,  to  most  of  the  Argonauts,  as  tem- 
porary as  their  intended  stay  in  the  country  was  uncertain  ; 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that  the  resources  of  the 
newly-acquired  territory  invited  permanent  residence  and  oc- 
cupation, and  the  people  undertook  the  building  of  a  State  on 
the  principles  of  modern  civilization,  it  occurred  to  men  of  in- 
telligence that  the  increase  of  the  Chinese  population,  to  any 
considerable  extent,  would  certainly  make  it  a  disturbing  ele- 
ment in  the  industrial  and  social  organization  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

As  early,  therefore,  as  1852,  we  find  the  question  of 
Chinese  immigration  a  subject  of  discussion  in  the  Legislature 
of  California.  In  April  of  that  year,  the  Committee  on  Mines 
and  Mining  Interests  of  the  Assembly  presented  a  report,  in 
which  attention  was  called  to  the  evil  arising  from  the  concen- 
tration within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  vast  numbers  of  the 
Asiatic  races,  and  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  dis- 
similar from  ourselves  in  customs,  language  and  education. 
The  committee  stated,  among  many  other  reasons,  why  an  in- 


ANTI-ALIEN    LEGISLATION.  443 

discriminate  immigration  of  this  class  of  foreigners  should  not 
be  permitted,  that  "  most  of  them  arrive  here,  not  as  freemen 
seeking  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  but  are  brought 
as  absolute  slaves  by  their  foreign  masters,  and  by  foreign 
capitalists,  and  are  held  to  labor  under  contracts  which  our 
laws  do  not  recognize,  and  whose  penalties  are  revolting  to 
our  sympathies."  Governor  Bigler  also  sent  a  special  mes- 
sage to  the  Legislature,  in  which  he  urged  upon  that  body  the 
necessity  for  action  concerning  the  wholesale  importations 
into  this  country  of  immigrants  from  the  Asiatic  quarter  of  the 
globe.  He  stated  that  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  con- 
viction that,  in  order  to  enhance  the  prosperity  and  to  preserve 
the  tranquillity  of  the  State,  measures  should  be  adopted  to 
check  this  tide  of  Asiatic  immigration,  and  prevent  the  expor- 
tation by  them  of  the  precious  metals,  which  they  dig  up  from 
our  soil  without  charge,  and  without  assuming  any  of  the  obli- 
gations imposed  upon  citizens.  The  Governor  submitted  two 
propositions  for  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature  :  — 

ist.  Such  an  exercise  of  the  taxing  power  by  the  State  as 
would  check  indiscriminate  and  unlimited  Asiatic  immi- 
gration. 

2nd.  A  demand  by  the  State  of  California  for  the  prompt  in- 
terposition of  Congress,  by  the  passage  of  an  act  prohibiting 
"coolies,"  shipped  to  California  under  contracts,  from  labor- 
ing in  the  mines  of  the  State. 

The  first  recommendation  took  form  in  the  enactment  of  a 
law  imposing  a  monthly  tax  of  $4  upon  all  foreigners  taking 
gold  from  the  mines  of  the  State. 

The  first  Legislature,  which  met  at  San  Jose,  in  December, 
1849,  and  prior  to  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union, 
had  imposed  a  monthly  tax  of  $20  upon  foreigners  engaged 
in  mining  ;  but  this  tax  was  not  specially  directed  against  the 
Chinese.  There  were  other  foreigners  swarming  into  the 
State  at  that  time,  of  a  highly  objectionable  character  ;  and  it 
was  to  restrain  this  undesirable  immigration  that  this  law  was 
passed.  The  act,  however,  yielded  but  little  revenue  ;  and,  in 
1851,  it  was  repealed.  It  was  substantially  this  law  that  was 
revived  in  1852,  when  the  immigration  of  coolies  became 


444  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

alarming.  The  reduction  of  the  tax  to  $4  per  month  was, 
doubtless,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  law  effective  as  a 
revenue  act.  This  license-tax  was  declared  constitutional 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  and  was  continued  until 
the  year  1871,  when  John  Jackson,  the  sheriff  and  tax-col- 
lector of  Trinity  County,  was  indicted  and  convicted  in  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court,  sitting  at  San  Francisco,  for  the 
offense  of  collecting  the  tax  from  a  Chinaman,  contrary  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Act  of  Congress  approved  May  31,  1870. 
The  prohibition  of  the  Federal  statute  against  any  person 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  being  subjected  to 
the  deprivation  of  any  right  enjoyed  by  white  citizens,  and 
against  the  imposition  of  any  different  punishment,  pain  or 
penalty,  by  reason  of  such  person  being  an  alien,  was  held  to 
operate  against  the  foreign  miners'  license-tax,  and  its  col- 
lection was  at  once  abandoned. 

In  1855,  the  Legislature  of  California  passed  an  act  which 
subjected  all  ships  and  masters,  owners  and  consignees 
thereof  to  a  tax  of  $50  a  head  on  every  person  imported  by 
said  ships  into  the  State,  who  was  incapable  of  becoming  a 
citizen  thereof  or  of  the  United  States.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  collect  from  the  owners  of  the  ship  "Stephen  Bald- 
win "  this  tax  on  two  hundred  and  fifty  Chinese  passengers, 
brought  on  that  ship  to  San  Francisco  from  Hong  Kong ;  but 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  declared  the  law  un- 
constitutional on  the  authority  of  the  passenger  cases,  decided 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  1848.  Mean- 
time, the  act  was  repealed  by  the  Legislature  of  1856.  In 
1858,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  prohibiting  the  entry  into 
the  State,  or  the  landing  at  any  port  thereof,  of  persons  of  the 
Chinese  or  Mongolian  races.  This  act  was  also  declared  un- 
constitutional by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 

The  next  effort  of  the  State  to  restrain  the  increasing  flood 
of  Chinese  immigration  was  the  Act  of  April  26,  1862,  im- 
posing a  Chinese  police-tax  of  $2.50  each  month  upon  all 
persons  of  the  Mongolian  race  of  eighteen  years  and  upwards, 
residing  in  the  State,  except  such  as  should  take  out  licenses 
to  work  in  the  mines,  and  excepting  also  those  engaged  in  the 


SUPREME    COURT    DECISIONS.  445 

production  and  manufacture  of  sugar,  rice,  coffee  and  tea. 
The  power  of  the  State  to  prescribe  terms  upon  which 
Chinese  should  be  permitted  to  reside  in  it  was  very  ably  dis- 
cussed before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  upon  the  hear- 
ing of  a  case  arising  under  this  law  ;  but  the  Supreme  Court, 
in  a  very  elaborate  opinion,  decided  the  law  unconstitutional. 
It  would  be  unprofitable  to  refer  to  all  the  measures  adopted 
by  the  people  of  California  to  protect  themselves  against  the 
evils  of  Chinese  immigration.  Accustomed  to  rely  upon  their 
own  ingenuity  and  will  in  the  solution  of  difficulties  pertain- 
ing to  their  new  society,  the  Californians  undertook  to  legis- 
late upon  this  subject  with  a  view  of  discouraging  an  increase 
in  this  class  of  population.  They  accordingly  provided 
statutes  against  the  importation  of  certain  objectionable  classes, 
and  imposed  penalties  against  many  of  the  evil  practices  com- 
mon to  the  Chinese  habits  of  life ;  but  this  method  of  pro- 
cedure, being  restricted  under  our  form  of  government  to  police 
regulations,  the  legislation  proved  ineffectual  to  restrain  the 
Chinese  invasion.  That  the  State  has,  however,  gone  to  the 
full  extent  of  its  sovereign  power  in  this  direction  by  constitu- 
tional and  legislative  enactments,  is  fully  attested  by  the  large 
number  of  cases  brought  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  wherein  that  authority  is  questioned  as  infringing  upon 
Federal  jurisdiction. 

An  appeal  was  accordingly  made  to  Congress  to  interpose 
its  unquestioned  power  and  authority  in  this  behalf.  Prior  to 
1868,  no  right  of  emigration  of  Chinese  subjects  to  the  United 
States  existed  by  reason  of  any  formal  treaty  stipulations  with 
China  ;  and,  in  fact,  no  such  stipulation  was  necessary.  The 
country  had  always  been  open  to  immigration,  without  con- 
dition as  to  the  nationality  of  the  immigrant.  The  generous 
declaration  that  this  country  is  the  asylum  for  the  oppressed 
of  every  nation,  had  been  sufficient  for  all  purposes  in  the  en- 
couragement of  foreign  immigration  to  our  shores,  and  it  did 
not  exclude  the  Chinamen.  In  the  year  1868,  Mr.  Burlin- 
game  negotiated  a  treaty  with  China,  in  which  free  immigra- 
tion was  for  the  first  time  established  as  a  treaty-right.  But 
the  ink  with  which  this  treaty  was  written  was  hardly  dry 


446  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

when  an  unsuccessful  effort  was  made  in  Congress  to  restrict 
Chinese  immigration.  In  1870,  Mr.  Fitch,  then  a  represent- 
ative in  Congress  from  Nevada,  in  a  speech  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  concerning  Chinese  immigration,  said  :  — 

Only  here  can  this  tide  be  stayed.  The  States  of  the  Pacific  are  powerless 
to  legitimately  resist  it.  It  is  no  act  of  statemanship  to  burn  a  steamer  or  mob 
a  Chinese  factory.  The  Chinese  who  are  here  under  existing  laws  and  treaties, 
are  entitled  to  be  protected  in  their  persons  and  property ;  and  the  Pacific  coast 
cannot  resist  the  power  of  Federal  government.  We  cannot  offer  isolated,  in. 
effectual  opposition  to  the  incoming  ofthese  Asiatics.  We  must  appeal  to  the 
wisdom  and  justice  of  Congress,  from  being  over-run  and  devastated  by  these 
Asiatic  locusts ;  and  if  we  appeal  as  one  people,  without  seeking  to  make  it  a 
partisan  question,  we  may  not  appeal  in  vain. 

In  1872, 'the  legislature  of  the  State  of  California  adopted 
resolutions  setting  forth  the  evils  of  this  immigration  ;  and, 
through  its  Senators  and  Representatives,  urged  upon  the 
Federal  Government  the  adoption  of  such  treaty  regulations 
and  legislation  as  should  discourage  its  continuance.  A  like 
appeal  was  also  made  in  1874.  During  this  time,  numerous 
memorials,  resolutions  of  public  meetings  and  petitions,  —  one 
of  which  numbered  over  .sixteen  thousand  signatures,  —  were 
presented  to  Congress,  asking  for  relief  from  the  growing 
evil. 

In  1877,  an  address  was  prepared  and  issued  by  a  committee 
of  the  senate  of  the  State  of  California,  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  upon  the  social,  moral  and  political  effect  of 
Chinese  immigration.  In  this  address,  the  whole  question  was 
ably  discussed,  and  an  earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the  country 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  Pacific  coast  in  its  effort  to  secure  a 
restriction  of  Chinese  immigration  through  the  peaceable 
means  of  legislation  or  treaty  stipulations. 

In  1878,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  California  again 
appealed  to  Congress  to  take  action  upon  this  vital  question, 
and  recommended  the  modification  or  abrogation  of  the  Bur- 
lingame  Treaty. 

In  1879,  at  a  general  election  held  for  State  officers  in  Cali- 
fornia, the  question  of  Chinese  immigration  was  submitted  to 
the  voters  of  the  State  for  an  expression  of  sentiment  as  to 
whether  or  not  such  immigration  was  desirable. 


A    MIGHTY    PROTEST.  447 

For  Chinese  immigration,  there  were  cast  883  votes ; 
against  Chinese  immigration,  154,638,  —  showing  a  majority 
of  I53»755  against  such  immigration.  This  popular  verdict 
in  favor  of  protecting  American  labor  against  foreign  invasion 
came  alike  from  the  employee  and  the  employer,  the  laborer 
and  the  capitalist,  the  miner  and  the  banker.  It  came  from 
the  school-room,  the  pulpit  and  the  public  press.  It  repre- 
sented all  classes,  and  for  all  practical  purposes  was  the  united 
voice  of  the  free,  law-abiding,  patriotic  people.  And  it  se- 
cured attention  ;  for,  in  this  same  year,  Congress  finally  passed 
an  act  limiting  the  number  of  Chinese  passengers  that  should 
be  permitted  to  come  to  the  United  States  on  any  one  vessel,  to 
fifteen.  This  bill,  however,  failed  to  receive  Executive  appro- 
val, on  the  ground  that  it  was  in  conflict  with  the  treaty  obli- 
gations then  existing  between  the  United  States  and  China. 

A  commission  was  thereupon  appointed  to  proceed  to  China 
and  negotiate  a  new  treaty,  having  in  view  the  declared  pur- 
pose of  Congress  to  prohibit  the  further  influx  of  Chinese  sub- 
jects into  this  country. 

The  result  of  this  action  is  to  be  found  in  the  present  treaty 
with  China,  dated  November  17,  1880. 

From  this  statement,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  opposition  to 
Chinese  immigration  is  by  no  means  a  new  sentiment  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  that  party  bias  has  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  it.  It  is  a  question  upon  which  the  political  parties 
are  agreed  ;  and,  in  every  instance  where  popular  expression 
has  been  sought  in  the  various  stages  of  the  agitation,  the  two 
great  parties  have  been  united  in  their  influence  and  efforts  in 
favor  of  peaceful  and  conservative  methods,  as  distinguished 
from  violent  demonstrations  and  lawless  conduct. 

The  first  article  of  the  Treaty  of  1880  provides  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

Whenever,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  the  com- 
ing of  Chinese  laborers  to  the  United  States,  or  their  residence  therein,  affects 
or  threatens  to  affect  the  interests  of  that  country,  or  to  endanger  the  good 
order  of  the  said  country,  or  of  any  locality  within  the  territory  thereof,  the 
Government  of  China  agrees  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  may 
regulate,  limit  or  suspend  such  coming  or  residence,  but  may  not  absolutely 
prohibit  it.  The  limitation  or  suspension  shall  be  reasonable,  and  shall  ap- 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ply  only  to  Chinese  who  may  go  to  the  United  States  as  laborers,  other  classes 
not  being  included  in  the  limitations.  Legislation  taken  in  regard  to  Chinese 
laborers  will  be  of  such  a  character  only  as  is  necessary  to  enforce  the  regula- 
tion, limitation  or  suspension  of  immigration,  and  immigrants  shall  not  be 
subject  to  personal  maltreatment  or  abuse. 

In  accordance  with  this  stipulation,  Congress,  on  the  6th 
day  of  May,  1882,  passed  an  act  suspending  for  the  period  of 
ten  years  the  coming  of  Chinese  laborers  to  the  United 
States. 

By  its  terms,  the  act  went  into  effect  on  the  5th  day  of 
August,  1882.  Questions  at  once  arose  as  to  the  status  of 
various  Chinese  persons,  claiming  the  right  to  come  into  the 
United  States,  under  some  exception  or  omission  in  the  law. 
Some  of  these  questions  came  before  the  Executive  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  for  determination,  while  others 
were  taken  into  the  United  States  courts  for  decision.  Whether 
the  ruling  of  the  departments  was  correct  or  not,  it  is  not 
necessary  at  present  to  inquire.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that, 
under  one  pretext  and  another,  Chinese  laborers  were  per- 
mitted to  come  into  the  United  States  in  such  numbers  as  to 
excite  alarm  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  give  the  impression  that 
the  Restriction  Act  was  a  failure. 

This  state  of  affairs  led  to  the  passage  of.  an  amendatory 
act,  dated  July  5,  1884,  which  had  for  its  purpose  the  curing 
of  certain  serious  defects  developed  in  the  former  act.  The 
anxiety  of  the  Chinese  to  come  to  this  country  had  become  so 
strong  under  the  flattering  inducements  offered  by  their  mas- 
ters, that  they  immediately  proceeded  to  test  the  provisions  of 
the  amendatory  act,  and  it  became  the  subject  of  construction 
in  the  departments  of  the  government  and  in  the  United  States 
courts.  The  purpose  of  the  law  was  again  evaded  in  its  execu- 
tion, and  large  numbers  of  Chinamen  obtained  admission 
into  the  country  upon  artful  claims  of  prior  residence, 
transit  privileges,  and  other  pretences. 

The  people  of  the  Pacific  coast  naturally  became  exasper- 
ated over  this  condition  of  things,  and  demanded  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  to  put  a  stop  to  this  immigration. 
Accordingly,  the  delegation  from  California  in  the  present 


RESTRICTION    ACT.  449 

Congress  made  a  very  careful  investigation-  as  to  the  practical 
operations  of  the  law.  The  Chinese  restriction  acts  of  the 
Australian  colonies,  British  Columbia  and  the  Sandwich 
Islands  were  examined,  and  information  obtained  as  to  their 
value  for  the  purpose  intended.  Amendments  were  there- 
upon prepared  to  the  present  law,  and  submitted  to  persons 
well  informed  as  to  the  technical  and  legal  deficiencies  of  the 
statute.  The  result  of  this  work  may  be  found  in  the  bill 
introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  December  last, 
amending  the  Restriction  Act.  A  copy  of  this  bill  was  intro- 
duced in  the  Senate,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations.  After  very  careful  examination  of  its  provisions 
by  that  committee,  it  was  reported  favorably  to  the  Senate  by 
Senator  Sherman.  It  passed  the  Senate  without  serious 
opposition,  and  in  the  House  was  referred  to  the  Corrunittee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  where  it  still  remains. 

The  House  bill  had  been  referred  to  this  committee  long 
before,  where  it  was  considered,  amended  and  reported  to  the 
House. 

As  amended,  the  bill  was  objectionable,  and  would  be  of 
but  little  value  as  an  amendment  to  the  Restriction  Act.  The 
original  bill  provides  for  the  extension  of  the  Restriction  Act  to 
a  period  of  twenty  years  ;  limits  the  life  of  a  return-certificate 
issued  to  a  departing  Chinaman  to  two  years ;  perfects  the 
details  of  the  return-certificate  in  the  identification  of  the  person 
to  whom  it  is  issued,  and  limits  the  number  of  Chinese  pas- 
sengers that  can  come  to  the  United  States  on  any  one  vessel 
to  one  for  every  fifty  tons  of  the  registered  tonnage  of  the 
vessel. 

Such  amendments  to  the  Restriction  Act  would  undoubtedly 
cure  many,  if  not  all,  of  its  serious  defects. 

The  difficulties,  however,  in  the  way  of  an  effectual  en- 
forcement of  the  present  law  are  so  numerous  that  the  senti- 
ment of  the  Pacific  coast  is  favorable  to  an  abrogation  of  so 
much  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty  as  relates  to  the  immigration 
of  Chinese  subjects  to  the  United  States.  If  Congress  would 
provide  for  the  abrogation  of  all  treaty  stipulations  with  China 
relating  to  immigration,  and  exclude  all  classes  except  ambas- 

(29) 


450 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


sadors  and  officials  representing  the  Chinese  government,  the 
question  would  be  settled  at  once. 

As  an  indication  of  the  profound  sentiment  prevailing  in 
California  upon  this  subject,  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to 
notice  the  petition  presented  to  Congress,  in  June  last,  from 
the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  petition  contained  nearly  50,000 
names,  and  was  one  of  the  most  formidable  documents  of  the 
kind  ever  presented  to  Congress.  It  represented  the  views 
of  the  people  engaged  in  every  profession,  trade  and  calling 
in  the  State,  and  called  upon  Congress  to  take  such  action, 
either  by  appropriate  legislation  or  by  a  change  in  the  present 
treaty  with  China,  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  to  forever 
prohibit  the  further  immigration  of  Chinese  to  the  United 
States.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  such  urgent  and 
continued  appeals  for  relief  should  go  unheeded  by  Con- 
gress. 

But  it  is  urged  that  there  are  commercial  reasons  why  such 
extreme  measures  should  not  be  adopted.  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  our  relations  \vith  China  will  show,  however,  that 
there  are  no  such  benefits  derived  from  our  trade  with  that 
country  as  to  warrant  us  in  leaving  our  doors  open  to  Chinese 
immigration. 

The  Chinese  population  in  the  United  States,  according 
to  the  census,  was,  in  1860,  34,933;  1870,  63,199;  1880, 
105,465.  Much  reliance  cannot  be  placed  on  the  census 
report  in  a  matter  of  this  kind.  The  experience  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  particularly  in  San  Francisco,  shows  that 
the  usual  appliances  for  enumeration  are  insufficient  to  deter- 
mine, with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  population  of  an 
ordinary  "  Chinatown."  The  figures  above  given  will,  how- 
ever, do  for  comparison.  The  census  of  1880  was  of  the  date 
of  the  treaty  with  China,  providing  for  the  restriction  of  immi- 
gration. Had  the  purpose  of  this  treaty  been  promptly  and 
effectually  carried  out,  the  number  of  Chinese  in  the  United 
States  would  necessarily  have  been  less  now  than  in  1880. 
But  what  is  the  fact?  The  number  is  now  not  much  less  than 
200,000,  or  nearly  double  what  it  was  at  the  date  of  the  treaty. 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  people  are  restless  under  this  state 


EXCLUSION    OF    CHINESE    LABOR.  45! 

of  affairs?  The  marvel  is,  that  they  are  as  patient  as  they 
have  been. 

In  the  face  of  a  rapidly-increasing  and  absorbing  competi- 
tion in"  every  department  of  labor  and  every  line  of  industry, 
these  people  have  said  that  Chinamen  who  are  here  shall  be 
protected  in  all  their  rights ;  but,  in  the  name  of  everything 
that  is  near  and  dear  to  them,  they  demand  that  this  inva- 
sion shall  cease.  Is  there  anything  extraordinary  in  this 
demand? 

The  President  has  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
fact  "that  the  exclusion  of  Chinese  labor  is  demanded  in  other 
countries  where  like  conditions  prevail,  is  strongly  evident  in 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  where  Chinese  immigration  is  now 
regulated  by  laws  more  exclusive  than  our  own."  Now, 
what  was  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Canada  that  induced  its 
parliament  to  pass  laws  more  exclusive  than  our  own?  The 
immigration  has  been  into  British  Columbia,  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  where,  in  1883,  the  total  population  was  49,459,  of 
which  only  4,350  were  Chinese,  or  less  than  one-tenth.  The 
building  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  brought  a  large, 
but  temporary,  increase  of  the  Chinese  population  ;  and  at  one 
time  (in  1885),  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  18,000  China- 
men in  British  Columbia.  The  people  of  that  section  protested 
against  this  immigration,  and  demanded  it  should  cease, 
whereupon  the  government  at  Ottawa  passed  a  restriction 
act,  dated  July  20,  1885,  section  5  of  which  provides  :  — 

No  vessel  carrying  Chinese  immigrants  to  any  port  in  Canada,  shall 
carry  more  than  one  such  immigrant  for  every  fifty  tons  of  its  tonnage ;  and 
the  owner  of  any  such  vessel  who  carries  any  number  in  excess  of  the  number 
allowed  by  this  section,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  $50  for  each  person  so 
carried  in  excess. 

In  other  sections,  further  penalties  are  provided  for  evasions 
of  the  act,  and  the  exclusion  is  perpetual,  and  not  temporary; 
but  notwithstanding  the  effective  terms  of  the  act,  it  is  an- 
nounced that  it  is  to  be  further  amended,  so  as  to  enlarge  its 
penalties,  and  make  the  exclusion  more  rigid  and  certain. 

The  seven  colonies  of  Australasia  contain  a  population  of  a 
little  over  3,000,000  of  people,  with  a  Chinese  population  of 


452  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

less  than  50,000.  Some  years  ago,  it  was  determined  that  a 
restriction  should  be  placed  on  the  further  immigration  of 
Chinese ;  and,  accordingly,  laws  were  passed  having  this 
object  in  view.  The  last  statute  on  this  subject  which  has 
come  under  my  notice  limits  the  number  of  Chinese  immi- 
grants that  can  be  carried  on  any  one  vessel  to  one  for  every 
one  hundred  tons  of  the  tonnage  of  the  vessel. 

In  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  the  Chinese  population  increased 
from  5,116  in  1878  to  17,937  in  1884,  at  which  last-named 
date  the  total  population  numbered  80,578.  The  process  of 
Chinese  absorption  had  commenced,  when  the  government 
interposed  and  put  a  stop  to  the  immigration. 

In  the  face  of  such  examples,  showing  the  action  of  other 
countries  in  dealing  with  this  question,  ought  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  further  to  hesitate  in  this  matter?  The 
situation  is  far  more  serious  on  the  Pacific  coast  than  is 
generally  understood,  and  invites  the  attention  of  the  country 
to  the  careful  consideration  of  this  question.  The  successful 
method  adopted  in  other  countries  for  restricting  Chinese  im- 
migration has  been  to  limit  the  number  that  may  be  carried 
on  any  one  vessel.  This  was  the  restriction  first  proposed  by 
Congress  ;  and  it  would  have  been  the  law  to-day,  and  this 
question  settled,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Burlingame  Treaty. 
The  present  treaty,  however,  permits  a  restriction  of  this 
character ;  and,  accordingly,  it  is  proposed  that  vessels  shall 
not  bring  to  this  country  a  greater  number  than  one  China- 
man to  every  fifty  tons  of  the  tonnage  of  that  vessel.  This  is 
the  present  limitation  in  Canada,  and  half  what  it  is  in 
Australasia.  It  cannot  be  said,  therefore,  to  be  unreason- 
able. The  argument  is  made,  however,  that  there  are 
Americans  in  China  whose  interests  would  suffer  from  any 
aggressive  action  on  our  part ;  but,  when  we  inquire  how  far 
our  American  energy  and  enterprise  have  been  invited  in  that 
direction,  we  find  that  there  are  only  621  Americans  in  the 
whole  Chinese  empire,  including  men,  women  and  children, 
and  comprising  in  occupations  missionaries,  students,  mer- 
chants, mechanics,  engineers,  bankers  and  ship-owners. 
What  interests  can  these  few  adventurers  have  in  China,  as 


AMERICANS    IN    CHINA. 


453 


compared  with  the  interests  of  60,000,000  of  people  at  home, 
to  preserve  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  thousands  of  in- 
dustrial communities  scattered  all  over  this  land  ?  It  is  absurd 
to  seriously  discuss  measures  for  the  protection  of  American 
labor  and  American  industries,  and  imperil  the  whole  prin- 
ciple under  some  vague  impression  that  621  Americans  in 
China  have  acquired  rights  that  can  only  be  preserved  by  a 
submission  to  the  tyranny  and  demoralization  of  Chinese 
labor,  habits  and  morals. 

It  is  a  further  fact  worthy  of  special  attention,  that  under 
our  present  treaty  stipulations  with  China,  neither  the  handful 
of  Americans  who  are  now  in  China,  nor  any  number  who 
may  choose  to  go  there,  have  any  such  rights  as  the  200,000 
Chinese  have  in  the  United  States.  The  Chinaman  in  this 
country  may  go  where  he  pleases,  and  trade  and  labor  in 
any  community  he  likes,  enjoying  the  same  privileges  as 
our  own  citizens.  But  not  so  with  the  American  in  China ; 
he  is  restricted  in  his  residence  and  trade  to  certain  ports, 
called  "  treaty-ports,"  which  number  twenty-two  in  all ; 
but  only  twenty  ports  are  in  fact  open  to  foreign  trade  and 
commerce.  In  these  "treaty-ports,"  the  Americans,  like  other 
foreigners,  are  even  there  subjected  to  restrictions  as  to 
residence,  business  and  travel,  not  imposed  upon  Chinese 
subjects  ;  and  hence,  it  is  urged,  that  our  relations  with  China 
are  in  no  sense  reciprocal  or  just  to  our  own  people,  and  we 
ought  not  to  hesitate  in  imposing  whatever  restrictive 
measures  may  be  necessary  to  protect  our  laboring  classes 
against  the  evils  of  Chinese  immigration. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE    PROBLEM    OF    TO-DAY. 


EQUITY  BETWEEN  MEN  —  THE  COMPLAINT  OF  LABOR PARTISAN  STATES- 
MANSHIP —  CONTRASTS  —  "  THE  CITY  STREETS  "  —  DESPOTISM  OF  THE 
WAGE-SYSTEM  —  THE  RESPONSIBILITY — WAR  RELATIONS  —  THE  DUTY 
OF  GOVERNMENT  —  A  PERMANENT  CLASS  —  MORE  TIME,  MORE  WAGES 
— THE  LEARNED  AND  POWERFUL  —  FROM  VILLANAGE  TO  CO-OPERA- 
TION—  CIVILIZATION  is  COMMON  PROPERTY  —  PRIVATE  OWNERSHIP 
AND  PUBLIC  INTERESTS  —  LEVELLING-UP  —  No  BLOODY  REPRISALS  — 
THE  ARMY  OF  PEACE  —  GOD  AND  MAMMON  —  THE  NEW  PENTECOST. 


THE  problem  of  to-day,  as  of  yesterday  and  to-morrow, 
is,  how  to  establish  equity  between  men.  The  laborer 
who  is  forced  to  sell  his  day's  labor  to-day,  or  starve  to- 
morrow, is  not  in  equitable  relations  with  the  employer,  who 
can  wait  to  buy  labor  until  starvation  fixes  the  rates  of  wages 
and  hours  of  time.  The  labor  movement  is  the  natural  effort 
of  readjustment,  —  an  ever-continued  attempt  of  organized 
laborers,  so  that  they  may  withhold  their  labor  until  the 
diminished  interest  or  profit  or  capital  of  the  employer  shall 
compel  him  to  agree  to  such  terms  as  shall  be  for  the  time 
measurably  equitable.  These  are  the  forceful  methods  of  all 
time,  and  may  continue  to  develop  manhood  and  womanhood 
by  peaceful  revolution,  as  laborers  advance  their  line,  or  may 
cause  a  social  earthquake,  and  become  destructive  by  the  or- 
ganized repression  of  labor's  right.  Before  the  solution  of  the 
labor  problem  can  be  reached,  the  nature  of  the  complaint 
must  be  understood.  The  author,  in  1877,  attempted  a  diag- 
nosis of  the  disease,  which  was  given  to  the  public  in  the 
form  of  an  appeal ;  and,  as  it  voices  the  complaint  of  labor 
to-day,  it  is  here  reproduced :  — 

"  Primarily,  the  responsibility  for  strikes  and  outbreaks  rests 
upon  the  wage-labor  system, — a  system  that  encourages  cun- 

(454) 


LABOR'S  COMPLAINT.  455 

ning  above  conscience ;  that  robs  the  producer,  and  enriches 
the  speculator ;  that  makes  the  employer  a  despot,  and  the 
employee  a  slave, — a  system  that  shortens  life,  engenders 
disease,  enfeebles  the  mind,  corrupts  the  morals,  and  thus 
propagates  misery,  vice  and  crime. 

"We  complain,  that  whereas  labor  produces  all  the  wealth 
of  the  world,  the  laborer  receives  only  as  much  as  will  keep 
him  in  the  poorest  condition  of  life  to  which  he  can  be* 
crowded  down,  for  the  shortest  number  of  years  ;  that  he 
makes  civilization  possible,  and  is  reduced  to  barbarism, — 
building  houses  not  to  own  them,  carriages  not  to  ride  in 
them,  growing  food  he  may  not  eat,  and  weaving  raiment 
he  may  not  wear ;  that  all  of  the  arts  and  comforts  that  lift 
human  life  above  the  brute  are  present  to  tantalize,  and  not 
to  encourage  him ;  that  steam,  electricity,  chemistry  and 
productive  machinery  are  competitors,  and  not  co-operators, 
with  him ;  that  the  conditions  of  his  employment  are  debas- 
ing, and  not  elevating,  —  demoralizing,  and  not  self-con- 
trolling ;  and  that,  whereas  he  is  the  most  important  factor, 
he  is  treated  as  the  least ;  that  his  home  is  in  the  tenement- 
houses,  back-slums  and  alleys  of  the  city,  or  the  unhealthy 
lowlands  of  the  suburbs ;  that  his  wife  is  forced  from  home, 
and  his  children  from  school ;  that  he  cannot,  as  a  laborer, 
hope  for  thanks,  honors  or  positions  of  trust ;  that  he  is  prac- 
tically debarred  from  representation  or  the  public  expression 
of  his  complaints.  When  at  work,  he  belongs  to  the  lower 
orders,  and  is  continually  under  surveillance ;  when  out  of 
work,  he  is  an  outlaw,  a  tramp,  —  he  is  a  man  without  the 
rights  of  manhood,  —  the  pariah  of  society,  homeless,  in  the 
deep  significance  of  the  term. 

"The  laborer's  complaint  is  not  that  brains  rule,  or  that  cul- 
ture leads,  but  that  conscienceless  cunning  and  miserly 
acquisitiveness  are  rewarded  better  than  constructive  ability 
or  open-hearted  integrity.  We  complain  that  culture  busies 
itself  upon  immaterial  subjects, — conning  the  olden  lore,  not 
delving  for  the  unrevealed  treasures  that  lie  embossed  in 
humanity ;  that  learning  interests  itself  with  the  science  of 
things,  and  not  with  the  science  of  men  ;  that  philanthropy  is 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  maudlin  moan  over  the  needs  of  the  beasts,  and  a  scoffer 
at  the  woes  of  humanity  ;  that  cats,  dogs  and  horses  are 
better  cared  for  than  the  children  of  the  poor  ;  that  there  are 
societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals,  and  none 
to  prevent  cruelty  to  humanity. 

"  We  complain  that  our  rulers,  statesmen  and  orators  have 
not  attempted  to  engraft  republican  principles  into  our  indus- 
trial  system,  and  have  forgotten  or  denied  its  underlying 
principles. 

"We  complain  that  statesmanship  is  narrow  and  partisan, 
the  pulpit  blind  and  ignorant,  and  the  press  the  advertising 
channel  of  wealth  ;  that  the  spirit  and  power  of  our  institu- 
tions are  being  subverted  from  the  high  positions  attempted 
by  the  Fathers,  by  gradual  limitation  of  the  power  of  the 
ballot,  making  elections  less  frequent,  appointments  more 
numerous,  terms  of  office  longer,  by  decrease  of  opportunity 
for  the  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  rapidly-increasing 
political  duties,  by  the  teachings  of  a  false  and  pernicious 
system  of  political  economy,  that  has  no  logical  rule  or  law 
of  action,  or  systematic  arrangement  of  data,  —  a  system  that, 
up  to  this  time,  has  taught  that  the  production,  and  not  the 
distribution,  of  wealth  was  the  greatest  factor  in  civilization. 

"We  complain  that  the  courts  are  administrators  of  estates, 
and  not  of  justice  ;  that  the  weight  of  wealth,  and  not  of  tes- 
timony, wins  the  case  or  decides  the  penalty. 

"  We  complain  that  the  jurors  are  chosen  from  the  traders 
and  speculators,  and  not  from  the  wage-laborers. 

"  We  complain  that  the  poor  can  be  distressed  by  trustee- 
processes,  while  the  merchant  and  banker  can  be  released 
from  his  indebtedness  by  bankruptcy ;  that  we  are  wholly  in 
the  hands  of  our  employers,  —  serfs  of  the  mill,  the  workshop, 
and  the  mine, — subjects  of  the  railroad  kings  and  the  cotton 
lords,  who  know  no  divided  allegiance. 

"Such  are  a  few  of  the  complaints  of  labor;  and,  while  we 
thus  suffer,  fortunes  are  accumulated,  wealth  and  power  are 
centralized. 

"And  while  our  masters  are  revelling  in  luxury,  excelling 
the  nobility  of  Europe  in  extravagant  display,  aping  their 


THE    CITY    STREETS. 


457 


manners  and  imitating  their  follies*  we  are  becoming  crowded 
down  to  the  level  of  the  'pauper'  labor  of  the  monarchical 
countries." 

These  contrasts  of  conditions  have  aroused  not  only  the 
angry  hate  of  the  desperate  poor,  the  saddened  thought  of  the 
philosopher  and  philanthropist,  but  have  furnished  a  theme  for 
the  poet's  pen  *  :  — 

A  city  of  palaces !  Yes,  that 's  true ; 

A  city  of  palaces  built  for  trade ; 
Look  down  from  this  street  —  what  a  splendid  view 

Of  the  temples  where  fabulous  gains  are  made. 
Just  glance  at  the  wealth  of  a  single  pile, 

The  marble  pillars,  the  miles  of  glass, 
The  carving  and  cornice  in  gaudy  style, 

The  massive  show  of  the  polished  brass  ; 
And  think  of  the  acres  of  inner  floors, 

Where  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  spread  for  sale ; 
Why,  the  treasures  enclosed  by  those  ponderous  doors 

Are  rich  as  an  Eastern  fairy  tale. 
Pass  on  to  the  next,  it  is  still  the  same ; 

Another  Aladdin  the  scene  repeats ; 
The  silks  are  unrolled  and  the  jewels  flame 

For  leagues  and  leagues  of  the  city  streets. 

Now  turn  away  from  the  teeming  town, 

And  pass  to  the  homes  of  the  merchant  kings; 
Wide  squares,  where  the  stately  porches  frown, 

Where  the  flowers  are  bright,  and  the  fountain  sings. 
Look  up  at  the  lights  in  that  brilliant  room, 

With  its  chandelier  of  a  hundred  flames. 
See  the  carpeted  street  where  the  ladies  come, 

Whose  husbands  have  millions,  or  famous  names; 
For  whom  are  jewels  and  silks  :  behold, 

On  those  exquisite  bosoms  and  throats  they  burn ; 
Art  challenges  Nature  in  color,  and  gold, 

And  gracious  presence  at  every  turn. 
So  the  winters  fly  past  in  a  joyous  rout, 

And  the  summers  bring  marvellous  cool  retreats : 
These  are  civilized  wonders  we  '  re  finding  out, 

As  we  walk  through  the  beautiful  city  streets. 

A  city  of  palaces,  —  hush,  not  quite ! 

A.city  where  palaces  are,  is  best; 
No  need  to  speak  of  what's  out  of  sight; 

Let  us  take  what  is  pleasant,  and  leave  the  rest; 


*  "  The  City  Streets,"  by  John  Boyle  O'Reilly. 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

The  men  of  the  city  who  travel  and  write, 

Whose  fame  and  credit  are  known  abroad, 
The  people  who  move  in  the  ranks  polite, 

The  cultured  women,  whom  all  applaud. 
It  is  true,  there  are  only  ten  thousand  here; 

But  the  other  half-million  are  vulgar  clod, 
And  a  soul  well-bred  is  eternally  dear  — 

It  counts  so  much  more  on  the  books  of  God. 
The  others  have  use  in  their  place,  no  doubt; 

But  why  speak  of  a  class  one  never  meets? 
They  are  gloomy  things  to  be  talked  about,  — 

Those  common  lives  of  the  city  streets. 

Well,  then,  if  you  will,  let  us  look  at  both; 

Let  us  weigh  the  pleasure  against  the  pain, 
The  gentleman's  smile  against  the  bar-room  oath, 

The  luminous  square  with  the  tenement  lane. 
Look  round  you  now  :    't  is  another  sphere, 

Of  thin-clad  women,  and  grimy  men  ; 
There  are  over  ten  thousand  huddled  here, 

Where  a  hundred  would  live  of  the  upper  ten. 
Take  care  of  that  child  :  here,  look  at  her  face,  — 

A  baby  who  carries  a  baby-brother ; 
They  must  learn  to  be  helpers  in  this  poor  place, 

And  the  infant  must  often  nurse  the  mother. 
Come  up  those  stairs  where  the  babies  went ; 

Five  flights  the  little  one  climbed  in  the  dark; 
There  are  a  dozen  of  homes  in  the  steep  ascent, 

And  homes  that  are  filled  with  children.     Hark! 
Did  you  hear  that  laugh  with  its  manly  tones, 

And  the  joyous  rings  of  the  baby  voice? 
'  T  is  the  father  who  gathers  his  little  ones, 

The  nurse  and  her  brother,  and  all  rejoice. 
Yes :  human  nature  is  much  the  same, 

When  you  come  to  the  heart  and  count  its  beats; 
The  workman  is  proud  of  his  home's  dear  name 

As  the  richest  man  in  the  city  streets. 


'T  is  civilization,  so  they  say, 

And  it  cannot  be  changed  for  the  weakness  of  men. 
Take  care,  take  care;  'tis  a  desperate  way 

To  goad  the  wolf  to  the  end  of  his  den. 
Take  heed  with  your  civilization,  ye, 

On  your  pyramids  built  of  quivering  hearts ; 
There  are  stages,  like  Paris  in  '93, 

Where  the  commonest  men  play  most  terrible  parts. 
Your  statutes  may  crush,  but  they  cannot  kill 

The  patient  sense  of  a  natural  right; 


THE    CITY    STREETS.  459 

It  may  slowly  move,  but  the  people's  will, 

Like  the  ocean  o'er  Holland,  is  always  in  sight. 
We  have  churches  enough,  and  they  do  their  best, 

But  there's  little  of  Christ  in  our  week-day  laws; 
The  Gospel  is  taught,  but  the  gain  is  test; 

We  punish  the  sin,  while  we  cherish  the  cause. 
Not  gold,  but  souls,  should  be  first  in  an  age 

That  bows  its  head  at  the  Sacred  Word  : 
Yet  our  laws  are  blind  to  a  starving  wage, 

While  guarding  the  owners  sweat-wrung  hoard. 
"It  is  not  our  fault,"  say  the  rich  ones.     No  : 

'Tis  the  fault  of  a  system,  old  and  strong; 
But  men  are  the  judges  of  systems;  so 

The  cure  will  come  if  we  own  the  wrong. 
It  will  come  in  peace  if  the  Christ-word  lead ; 

It  will  sweep  in  storm  if  it  be  denied ; 
The  right  to  bring  justice  is  always  decreed; 

And  on  every  hand  are  the  warnings  cried. 
Take  heed  with  your  progress.     Its  feet  have  trod 

On  the  souls  it  slew  with  its  own  pollutions; 
Submission  is  good,  but  the  order  of  God 

May  flame  the  torch  of  the  revolutions. 
Beware  with  your  classes.     Men  are  men, 

And  a  cry  in  the  night  is  a  fearful  teacher; 
When  it  reaches  the  hearts  of  the  masses,  then 

They  need  but  a  sword  for  a  judge  and  a  preacher. 
Take  heed,  for  your  Juggernaut  pushes  hard; 

God  holds  the  doom  Irhat  its  day  completes ; 
It  will  dawn  like  a  fire  when  the  track  is  barred 

By  a  barricade  in  the  city  streets. 

These  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty  are  threatening  the 
existence  of  the  government.  In  the  light  of  these  facts,  we 
declare  that  there  is  an  inevitable  and  irresistible  conflict  be- 
tween the  wage-system  of  labor  and  the  republican  system 
of  government,  —  the  wage-laborer  attempting  to  save  the 
government,  and  the  capitalist  class  ignorantly  attempting 
to  subvert  it. 

The  strike  of  the  trainmen  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road was  the  serving  of  a  notice  upon  the  people  of  this 
nation  that  wages  could  not  be  further  reduced,  —  a  protest 
against  robbery,  a  rebellion  against  starvation.  The  trainmen 
were  under  despotic  control.  To  leave  their  employ  was  to 
become  tramps,  outlaws  ;  to  submit  was  to  starve  in  serfdom. 
They  knew  that  the  power  of  the  railroad  oligarchy  exceeded 


460  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  superseded  that  of  the  national  and  State  governments. 
The  railroad  president  is  a  railroad  king,  whose  whim  is  law. 
He  collects  tithes  by  reducing  wages  as  remorselessly  as  the 
Shah  of  Persia  or  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and,  like  them,  is  not 
amenable  to  any  human  power.  He  can  discharge  (banish) 
any  employee  without  cause.  He  can  prevent  laborers 
from  following  their  usual  vocations.  He  can  withhold  their 
lawful  wages.  He  can  delay  trial  on  a  suit  at  law,  and  post- 
pone judgment  indefinitely.  He  can  control  legislative 
bodies,  dictate  legislation,  subsidize  the  press,  and  corrupt 
the  moral  sense  of  the  community.  He  can  fix  the  price  of 
freights,  and  thus  command  the  food  and  fuel-supplies  of  the 
nation.  In  his  right  hand  he  holds  the  government ;  in  his  left 
hand,  the  people.  And  this  is  called  law  and  order,  — from 
which  there  is  no  appeal.  It  is  war,  —  war  against  the  divine 
rights  of  humanity  ;  war  against  the  principles  of  our  govern- 
ment. There  is  no  mutuality  of  interests,  no  co-operative  union 
of  labor  and  capital.  It  is  the  iron  heel  of  a  soulless  mo- 
nopoly, crushing  the  manhood  out  of  sovereign  citizens. 

The  subjects  of  this  power,  overworked,  underpaid,  under- 
fed, and  uneducated,  —  are  asked  to  be  wiser  than  the  states- 
manship and  culture  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  this  war  between  the  master  and  his  vassal,  property  was 
destroyed,  and  men  were  prevented  from  taking  the  places  of 
the  strikers.  Whoever  is  responsible  for  the  cause  is  respon- 
sible for  the  effect.  Men  respect  property  only  as  it  repre- 
sents the  public  good,  and  hate  it  whenever  it  becomes  typical 
of  wrong  and  oppression.  The  crown,  the  Bastile,  the  slave 
auction-block  and  the  lash  earned  the  hate  of  those  who  de- 
stroyed them. 

The  bell  that  calls  the  weary,  half-paid  worker  from  his 
needed  rest,  taunts  him  with  each  resounding  stroke.  The 
machinery  that  renders  his  skill  and  time  of  less  value  to 
himself  and  more  to  his  master,  becomes  the  hated  instrument 
of  torture  ;  its  monotonous  hum  keeping  time  to  his  groans  and 
curses.  The  mill,  the  mine,  the  foundry  and  the  round-house 
stand  like  giants,  ever  ready  to  swallow  up  his  substance. 
With  such  feelings  constantly  present  in  the  hearts  of  the 


A   STANDING    THREAT.  461 

laborers,  unused  to  thought,  disciplined  only  to  act,  what  won- 
der that  violence  should  spread  like  an  epidemic  from  station 
to  station,  from  mine  to  mine,  and  from  factory  to  factory. 
What  wonder  that  in  this  war  life  was  destroyed  ?  The  man 
who,  for  his  class,  dares  death  for  freedom's  sake,  must  needs 
look  upon  the  man  who  takes  his  place  as  giving  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy.  It  is  war,  and  cries  of  "peace,  peace," 
when  there  is  no  peace,  will  only  lull  the  thoughtless  into 
treacherous  sleep. 

The  laborer  and  capitalist  are  living  in  war  relations  ;  and 
the  sooner  this  fact  is  acknowledged,  the  better  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  differences. 

The  mob  can  be  put  down  for  a  while  ;  but  the  spirit  of  hate 
that  now  centres  upori  the  great  monopolies  will  soon  extend 
to  the  government  that  acts  as  their  protector. 

Men  love  the  government  under  which  they  can  .enjoy  the 
largest  prosperity,  and  hate  that  under  which  they  are  being 
crowded  back  into  barbarism. 

The  existence  of  a  million  tramps  is  a  standing  threat 
against  the  stability  of  our  institutions.  They  are  the  unor- 
ganized militia  of  incipient  rebellion  ;  and  the  attempt  to  sup- 
press them  by  violent  measures  will  fail  in  the  nineteenth  as 
well  as  it  did  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  demand  for  a  stronger  government  is  the  demand  of 
deadened  consciences  and  enfeebled  brains.  Strength  will 
not  be  found  in  a  standing  army ;  for,  when  our  internal 
commerce  and  manufactures  are  protected  by  armed  men,  the 
Republic  is  dead.  "Righteousness  alone  exalteth  a  nation." 

The  crisis  that  we  are  rapidly  approaching  is  not  local.  No 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  no  color-tests  divide  North,  South, 
East  and  West ;  wherever  laborers  congregate,  whether  in 
the  factories  of  New  England,  or  the  sunless  mines  of  Penn- 
sylvania, one  chord  of  sympathy  unites  them  all. 

No  demagogue's  cant  of  race  or  creed  will  hold  them  from 
their  purpose  to  be  free.  In  that  coming  time,  woman  will 
teach  her  children  the  lesson  of  her  hate  and  wrong.  Already 
a  generation  has  arisen,  schooled  in  the  great  moral  agitation 
for  public  good. 


462  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Justice  demands  that  those  who  earn  shall  receive  ;  that  no 
one  has  a  right  to  add  cost  without  adding  value. 

Recognizing  that  the  steps  toward  the  attaining  of  the  end 
must  be  slow,  we  demand,  first,  legislative  interference  between 
capital  and  labor ;  restraining  capital  in  its  usurpations,  and 
enlarging  the  boundaries  of  labor's  opportunity. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  demands  that  each  of 
the  sovereign  States  shall  have  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment. A  greater  power  than  that  of  the  State  has  arisen — "a 
State  within  a  State," — a  power  that  is  quietly  yet  quickly 
sapping  the  foundations  of  the  majority-rule.  The  law  of 
self-protection  is  greater  than  constitutions,  and  legislative 
bodies  are  bound  to  interfere  to  protect  the  sovereign  citizen 
against  the  insidious  inroads  of  the  usurping  power. 

Monarchal  governments  rest  upon  the  ability  of  the  ruler 
to  maintain  order  by  physical  force.  Republican  institutions 
are  sustained  by  the  ability  of  the  people  to  rule.  The  gov- 
ernment has  the  right,  and  is  bound  in  self-defence  to  protect 
the  ability  of  the  people  to  rule.  It  has  the  right  to  interfere 
against  any  organized  or  unorganized  power  that  imperils  or 
impairs  this  ability.  Upon  no  other  argument  can  the  free- 
school  system  be  maintained,  institutions  of  learning,  of 
science,  and  art  be  endowed  by  the  State  or  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion. It  is  the  policy  of  the  government  to  protect,  not  only 
her  domain  from  monarchal  interference,  as  set  forth  in  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  but  to  protect  her  citizens  from  the  influence 
of  cheap  labor  and  over-work.  For  cheap  labor  means  a 
cheap  people,  and  dear  labor  a  dear  people.  The  foundation 
of  the  Republic  is  equality. 

The  cheap  laborer  is  an  irresponsible  agent ;  the  dear 
laborer,  an  independent  citizen.  The  Mason  and  Dixon  line 
was  the  attempted  wall  of  defence  against  the  cheapest 
laborer  in  the  world  (the  chattel-slave).  The  protective 
tariff  was  the  pretended  wall  of  defence  against  the  com- 
petition of  the  monarchal  serf  (European  wage-slave).  The 
cotton  oligarchy  South,  and  their  tools,  defied  the  theory  and 
policy  of  the  government,  by  making  the  boundary-line  of 
slavery  (cheap  labor)  of  no  effect.  The  cotton  oligarchy 


"THE  LORDS  OF  THE  LOOM."  463 

North  (lords  of  the  loom)  defeated  the  purpose  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  protect  the  laborers,  and  made  the  tariff  a  wall  of 
protection  U>  invested  wealth,  without  giving  ample  protection 
to  invested  time  and  skill. 

They  placed  a  tariff  upon  things,  the  product  of  New  Eng- 
land cheap  labor,  thus  commanding  their  own  price  for  home 
production ;  and,  by  forcing  an  unnatural  immigration  of 
cheap  laborers  to  our  shores,  commanded  the  wages  of  home- 
producers  ;  bringing  the  condition  of  labor  in  this  country 
nearer  to  that  of  the  lowest  and  most  neglected  classes  of 
Europe,  —  thus  amassing  princely  fortunes,  and  creating  in 
our  midst  a  vassal  or  permanent  wage-labor  class. 

Chattel-slavery  died  at  its  own  hand,  — the  suicide  of  seces- 
sion. The  cotton-lords  and  their  tools  have  increased  produc- 
tive capacity,  and  decreased  distributive  ability,  until  it  has 
met  with  the  natural  stagnation  that  foreshadows  death. 

The  equilibrium  between  production  and  consumption  must 
be  adjusted ;  and  that  can  only  be  attained  by  the  better  distri- 
bution of  wealth  in  the  process  of  production. 

The  demand  of  labor  is  fo"r  more  wages  and  more  time,  — 
more  wages  to  obtain  more  comforts,  and  more  time  wherein 
to  enjoy  them. 

The  measure  that  will  soonest  lift  the  laborer  to  a  higher 
level  of  manhood,  and  will  at  the  same  time  tend  to  the  em- 
ployment of  more  laborers,  will  inaugurate  a  less  spasmodic 
system  of  industry,  and  will  set  more  "idlers  to  working,  and 
more  workers  to  thinking,"  is  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of 
labor,  —  a  measure  that  is  based  on  sound  economic  prin- 
ciples, as  well  as  sustained  by  the  most  humane  considera- 
tions. 

We  demand  that  the  policy  of  the  government  shall  be  de- 
clared as  against  cheap  labor,  and  that  all  encouragement  and 
aid  shall  be  withheld  from  all  forms  of  monopoly  that  en- 
danger the  ability  of  the  people  to  rule. 

The  statesmanship  of  the  nation  and  the  world  is  sum- 
moned to  the  solution  of  this  problem.  The  theory  that 
mental  force  has  any  diviner  right  to  rob  and  oppress  than 
brute  force  is  false.  Labor  will  not  step  down  another  inch 


464  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

without  revolting.     Concessions  must  come  from  those  who 
have. 

The  labor  movement  appeals  to  the  learned  and  powerful  to 
waste  no  further  time  in  the  conceits  of  an  unwield}r  culture. 
Take  lessons  in  humility,  and  be  wise  in  time.  Civilization, 
in  its  onward  march,  forces  concessions  from  those  who  have. 
The  Magna  Charta  was  the  concession  of  the  power  that 
made  all  powerful.  Art,  science  and  machinery,  when  made 
to  serve  all  the  people,  will  accomplish  miracles  that  the 
power  of  kings  cannot  evoke.  The  movement  pleads  for  the 
protection  of  all  the  past  achievements  of  labor.  Through 
the  system  of  wage-labor,  humanity  is  marching  from  villan- 
age  toward  co-operation.  If  its  progress  is  aided  by  timely 
concession,  its  steps  shall  keep  time  with  law  and  order.  But 
if  stubborn  power  resists  its  progress,  history  will  repeat 
itself.  The  product  of  the  world  is  man,  not  classes, — 
humanity,  not  race. 

Civilization  is  measured,  not  by  the  wealth,  power  or  cul- 
ture of  the  few,  but  by  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  op- 
portunities possessed  by  the  many.  Civilization  is  common 
property.  The  institutions  that  enable  the  many  to  read  and 
write  and  speak  their  native  language  amply  and  correctly 
are  communistic  institutions,  inasmuch  as  the  results  are  com- 
mon property,  even  when  the  buildings  are  under  private 
ownership.  So,  to-day,  the  advantages  of  transportation  of 
persons  or  commodities  by  steam  or  the  transmission  of  intel- 
ligence by  electricity  are  of  common  benefit  in  the  saving  of 
time  to  all.  The  demand  for  their  common  or  public  owner- 
ship is  based  on  the  theory  and  fact  that  private  ownership 
gives  private  control  over  vast  public  interests. 

Economic  equity  demands  the  elimination  of  waste  as  a 
great  step  in  the  direction  of  the  abolition  of  the  poverty  of 
the  world.  Whoever  makes  it  possible  to  travel  one  thousand 
miles  at  an  expense  of  ten  days'  where  it  formerly  cost  thirty 
days'  wages,  has  conferred  a  benefit  on  the  public  ;  but  to  pay 
$200,000,000  to  the  organizer  of  this  benefit  is  an  extrava- 
gance the  public  cannot  afford. 

Under  the  present  system  of  wages  for  laborers,  and  profits 


SOCIAL    UPHEAVALS.  465 

upon  labor  for  capitalists,  the  natural  tendency  is  toward  the 
establishment  of  permanent  classes  ;  the  wage-receiving  class 
becoming  more  and  more  permanent,  and  hence  less  and  less 
hopeful  and  intelligent,  —  continually  forced  to  be  smaller  con- 
sumers of  products,  until  their  condition  forces  the  reaction  of 
bloody  revolution,  or  degrades  them  to  the  "  cooly  "  level.  The 
theory  and  fact  of  the  constant  change  of  classes  is  based  and 
founded  on  the  accidents  of  fortune  rather  than  upon  scientific 
development.  Panics  in  trade,  stagnation  in  industries,  stock 
and  all  other  gambling,  intemperance,  extravagance  and  im- 
becility of  children,  wars,  convulsions  of  nature,  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  fires  and  strikes,  all  act  as  ministers  of  change 
from  class  to  class.  Social  as  well  as  physical  upheavals 
always  change  the  order  of  classes.  The  negro,  in  rising 
from  his  chains,  overturned  private  ownership  in  the  black 
man's  public  and  political  rights  ;  and,  in  that  overturning,  the 
class  of  masters  was  changed. 

The  statement  that  the  rich  man  of  to-day  may  be  the  poor 
man  of  to-morrow,  and  that  the  poor  man's  children  may  be 
the  employers  of  the  rich  man's  progeny,  is  a  confession  that 
bankrupts,  failures,  panics,  industrial  stagnation,  speculation, 
gambling,  and  wars  are  the  proper  methods  by  which  wealth 
should  be  redistributed.  As  the  labor  problem  is  a  question 
of  civilization,  and  the  movement  of  the  laborers  toward 
equity  is  not  that  individuals  should  be  thereby  made  rich, 
while  the  many  are  made  poor,  but  that  wealth  should  be  dis- 
tributed in  the  process  of  production.  The  demand  of  the 
laborer  is  for  a  change  of  conditions ;  and  the  solution  of  the 
problem  will  show  that  the  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty 
are  curses,  not  benefits.  The  thoughtless  opponent  of  the 
labor  movement  flies  at  once  to  the  conclusion  that  the  satis- 
fying of  the  demands  of  the  laborers  would  necessitate  level- 
ing down  instead  of  leveling  up.  They  say,  "If  all  men 
are  wealthy,  there  would  be  no  motive  for  labor."  The 
changes  which  will  be  wrought  in  the  future  in  the  leveling- 
up  process  will  reveal  the  wonderful  change  of  motives. 
The  motives  of  the  chattel-slave  are  buried  with  his  chains ; 
new  ambitions  are  aroused,  new  hopes  give  strength  to  new 

(30) 


466  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

demands ;  education,  culture  and  opportunity  are  ever  beck- 
oning to  new  energy.  The  wage-worker  is,  by  the  law  of 
necessity,  an  eye-servant,  —  as  a  rule,  perhaps,  rendering 
grudgingly  his  services ;  when  he  becomes  an  employer  or 
co-operator,  he  works  as  never  before.  As  the  laborer  re- 
ceives more  and  more  for  his  earnings,  abolishing  the  need  of 
overseers  and  middle-men,  as  well  as  the  further  use  of 
capitalists  and  speculators,  as  worse  than  useless  factors  in 
society,  more  and  more  labor-saving  machinery  will  be  intro- 
duced, the  hours  of  labor  being  continually  decreased,  and 
the  buildings  devoted  to  work  so  improved  that  labor  shall 
become  a  blessing  instead  of  a  curse,  a  pleasure  instead  of  a 
pain.  Instead  of,  as  now,  the  poor,  ignorant,  physically 
and  mentally,  and  sometimes  morally,  deformed,  unskilled 
worker  leaving  the  stifling^  sunless  room  of  the  crowded 
tenement,  or  the  cabin  of  the  unsanitary  lowlands,  by  early 
morning-light,  to  eke  out,  at  the  risk  of  health  and  limb,  and 
perhaps  life,  the  mere  pittance  that  shall  give  him  the  poorest 
food  and  poorest  shelter,  and  none  of  the  advantages  of 
civilization  (excepting  that  of  the  poison-draught  which 
science  has  developed  to  his  destruction) , —  instead  of  this,  the 
now-dawning  day  shall  witness  a  well-built,  fully  equipped 
manhood,  using  the  morning  hours  in  the  duties  and  pleasures 
of  the  sunlit-home  ;  taking  his  morning  bath  before  his  morn- 
ing work,  reading  his  morning  paper  in  the  well-equipped 
reading-room  of  the  manufactory,  or,  if  perchance,  handling 
the  cruder  tools  of  a  harder  and  less-skilled  occupation,  he 
shall  have  the  stimulant  of  being  equally  honorable  and 
equally  remunerative  with  the  more  easy  methods  of  gaining 
a  livelihood.  With  the  hours  of  work  reduced  to  the  mini- 
mum, the  profits  of  his  work  increased  to  the  maximum,  he 
will  be  a  man  upon  whom  the  honors  and  duties  of  civiliza- 
tion can  safely  rest.  The  new  revolution  that  shall  bring 
about  these  changes  shall  evolve  the  dude  out  of  existence ; 
the  rot  of  a  false-named  culture  shall  be  of  the  past.  The 
pretended  fear  that  this  will  make  all  men  alike  in  ambitions 
and  tastes,  is  born  of  ignorance  and  cowardice.  Varieties 
multiply  under  the  best  cultivation.  The  common  weeds 


PHYSICAL    TRANSFORMATION.  467 

may  look  alike,  but  the  plants  and  flowers  are  of  endless 
variety.  It  is  the  very  poorest  men  and  races  who  look  alike, 
think  alike,  and  act  alike,  —  whose  thoughts  and  actions  are 
controlled  by  one  instead  of  the  many.  The  physical  trans- 
formation of  races  under  the  influences  and  opportunities  of 
republican  institutions  is  marked,  and  can  be  read  of  all 
men.  The  poor,  over-wrought  worker  of  the  Old  World, 
stunted  in  growth,  with  marked  physical  characteristics  of 
expression,  and  of  almost  physical  deformity,  and  made  a 
subject  because  of  this,  to  caricature  and  ridicule,  finds  under 
our  institutions  such  opportunities  of  development  as  shall 
cause  his  children  to  be  born,  not  only  under  better  opportuni- 
ties, but  under  better  physical  conditions,  until  the  wonderful 
transformation  of  a  generation  shall  witness  the  glistening  eye, 
the  well-formed  mouth  and  chin,  as  the  result  of  the  change 
in  habits,  thoughts  and  actions,  consequent  upon  his  environ- 
ment. A  retired  capitalist  once  informed  the  writer  that  the 
labor  movement  would  develop  the  beauty  of  the  race.  He 
might  have  added,  "the  beauty  of  the  world." 

The  real  problem  of  to-day  is,  the  true  and  practicable  steps 
by  which  equity  between  men  can  be  administered  ?  As  the 
sick  man,  struggling  with  disease  caused  by  the  violation  of 
the  laws  of  nature,  grasps  for  remedies  and  seeks  immediate 
recovery  from  his  self-inflicted  ills,  so  the  system  which  is 
corrupting  mankind  to-day  cries  out  for  instantaneous  cure. 
As  common  sense  in  medicine  has  developed  the  fact  that 
pure  air,  pure  water,  sunlight,  and  careful  attention  to  the 
laws  of  hygiene  are  the  best  remedies  in  many  instances,  so 
the  labor  movement  needs  to-day  the  light  of  a  most  thorough 
and  unprejudiced  investigation.  It  calls  for  the  purest 
thought,  the  purest  men  and  women ;  it  calls  for  the  healthy 
exercise  of  the  noblest  sentiments ;  it  calls  for  treatment 
commensurate  with  its  importance.  While  nature  calls  for 
natural  remedies,  the  angry  clamor  and  fear  of  some  monopo- 
lists, and  of  desperate,  unthinking  men,  calls  for  blood, 
forgetting  all  past  history,  and  all  logical  deduction  from 
causes.  The  hanging  of  seven  anarchists,  at  Chicago,  after  a 
hasty  trial  and  conviction,  will  not  remedy  the  evil  nor  wash 


468  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

out  the  stain  of  anarchy  with  the  blood  of  men  hastily  con- 
demned. The  organized  labor  movement  of  the  age  looks 
to  no  red-handed  or  bloody  reprisals  of  its  wrongs.  To-day, 
the  disciplined  ranks  of  all  divisions  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
Labor  march  to  the  music  of  liberty  and  law.  The  flag  they 
carry  is  the  white  flag  of  pure,  enduring  peace ;  and  as  long 
as  they  can  freely  gather  in  their  union-halls  and  assembly- 
chambers  to  discuss  with  freedom  the  questions  of  the  day, — 
so  long  as  the  press  is  free  and  speech  remains  untrammeled, 
organization  unforbidden,  and  our  moral,  social  and  political 
influence  remains  intact,  —  he  is  an  enemy  to  the  labor  move- 
ment who  seeks  to  hasten  the  liberation  of  the  poor  by  the 
force  of  dynamite  or  of  arms.  The  danger  comes,  not  from 
labor  associations,  from  their  methods  or  their  measures, 
from  strikes  or  boycotts,  but  from  the  concentrated  power  of 
those  who,  holding  the  supplies  of  life,  the  opportunities  of 
labor,  command  such  conditions  as  the  price  ol  employment 
as  shall  turn  the  manly  effort  of  the  present  into  the  cowardly 
method  of  other  climes.  When  men  cannot  speak,  they  will 
think  ;  when  they  cannot  act  publicly,  they  will  act  secretly. 
The  hope  of  the  peaceful  solution  of  the  problem  of  to-day 
rests  in  the  Christianizing  influence  of  our  free  institutions. 
The  Pilgrim  leaven  still  works,  true  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  great  Leader  of  men,  who  walked  the  earth 
"with  not  where  to  lay  His  head,"  despised  by  the  wealthy, 
hated  by  the  powerful,  and  beloved  by  the  poor.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  teachings  of  the  carpenter's  Son  still  tends  to 
counteract  the  bad  influences  of  Mammon.  In  this  movement 
of  the  laborers  toward  equity,  we  will  find  a  new  revelation 
of  the  old  Gospel.  When  the  Golden  Rule  of  Christ  shall 
measure  the  relations  of  men  in  all  their  duties  towards 
their  fellows,  in  factory  and  workshop,  in  the  mine,  in  the 
field,  in  commerce,  everywhere  the  challenge  will  go  forth  as 
never  before,  "Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve, — God, 
or  Mammon."  Though  the  Mammon-worshippers  may  cry, 
"  Crucify  !  Crucify  !"  the  promise  of  the  prophet  and  the  poet 
shall  be  fulfilled,  and  the  glad  evangel  of  the  Christmas 
morn  shall  sound  again  in  the  glad  ears  of  all ;  and  peace  on 


THE    NEW    PENTECOST.  469 

earth  shall  prevail,  not  by  the  subjugation  of  man  to  man,  or 
intellect  to  superstition,  but  by  the  free  acceptance  of  the  Gos- 
pel that  all  men  are  of  one  blood.  Then  the  new  Pentecost 
will  come,  when  every  man  shall  have  according  to  his 
needs. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    HOURS    OF    LABOR. 

LESS  HOURS  OF  LABOR  FOR  THE  EMPLOYED  MEANS  MORE  HOURS  OF  WORK 
FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED  —  THE  LABORER'S  RIGHT  TO  SELL  His  TIME  AT 
THE  HIGHEST  PRICES  —  RAPID  PRODUCTION  —  EVILS  OF  MONOTONOUS 
LABOR  —  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  EIGHT-HOUR  SYSTEM  ANSWERED  — 
THE  MARKET  FOR  THE  PRODUCTS  OF  LABOR  DEPENDENT  UPON  THE 
CONDITION  OF  THE  MASSES — THE  EARNINGS  OF  LABOR  DEPENDENT 
UPON  THE  HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  PEOPLE — THE  BEST  MARKET 
WHERE  THE  SHORTEST  WORK-DAY  PREVAILS  STRIKES  LEGISLA- 
TION —  FREEDOM  OF  CONTRACT  —  DEMAND  AND  SUPPLY  —  PROFITS 
AND  WAGES  AFFECTED  BY  LESS  HOURS  OF  LABOR  —  THE  UPLIFTING 
INFLUENCE  OF  LEISURE. 

MEN  who  are  compelled  to  sell  their  labor,  very  naturally 
desire  to  sell  the  smallest  portion  of  their  time  for  the 
largest  possible  price.  They  are  merchants  of  their  time.  It 
is  their  only  available  capital.  They  feel  that,  if  they  flood 
the  market,  —  that  is,  sell  more  hours  of  labor  than  the  market 
requires,  —  stagnation  will  follow. 

The  growth  of  population,  greatly  enhanced  by  artificially 
stimulated  emigration  from  the  long-hour  and  cheap-labor 
countries  of  Europe,  tends  to  crowd  the  streets  with  unem- 
ployed men.  Men  out  of  work  will  underbid  the  men  at 
work,  and  so  wages  are  affected  and  sometimes  governed,  not 
by  the  value  of  the  service  rendered  in  time  or  skill,  but  by 
the  number  of  the  unemployed. 

The  instincts  of  the  wage-workers  are  wiser  than  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  schools.  The  demand  for  less  hours  of  labor 
for  the  employed  means  more  hours  of  work  for  the  now 
unemployed.  It  is  the  demand  for  a  better  distribution  of 
work,  as  well  as  a  demand  for  an  increase  of  value  on  each 
hour's  service.  The  rapidity  of  production  consequent  upon 
the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery  has  made  an  hour 
of  time  more  valuable  to  the  world  than  ten  hours  were  twenty- 

(47o) • 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  4.71 

five  years  ago.  The  intelligent  wage-worker  recognizes  this 
fact ;  and,  feeling  that  as  the  demand  for  hand-skill  is  being  di- 
minished, and  opportunity  of  advancement  continually  lessened, 
he  turns  to  his  only  remedy, — a  refusal  to  oversell  the  market. 

The  fact  that  men  who  ask  for  less  hours  often  ask  for  in- 
creased wages  at  the  same  time,  is  because  they  have  prized 
the  value  of  their  time  at  a  higher  rate  than  formerly. 

The  objections  to  the  reductions  of  the  hours  of  labor  now 
made  are  of  the  same  character  as  the  objections  that  were 
raised  to  the  shortening  of  the  day's  work  to  ten  hours  of  labor. 
Among  these  objections  may  be  named  the  objection  that  a 
reduction  of  hours  would  necessarily  reduce  the  wages  of  the 
employees,  and  thus  tend  to  injure  the  very  persons  who  are 
making  the  demand  ;  second,  that  the  reduction  of  the  hours 
of  labor  would  tend  to  an  increase  of  intemperance,  vice  and 
crime  ;  that  it  would  tend  to  discourage  enterprise  and  increase 
the  cost  of  production ;  that  it  would  lessen  the  profit  upon 
capital  invested  ;  that  capital  would  seek  investment  in  those 
localities  where  the  longer  work-day  existed ;  that  it  would 
encourage  foreign  competition. 

On  an  examination  of  these  objections,  it  will  be  found 
that  some  of  them-  are  self-contradictory.  If  wages  are  re- 
duced, as  a  consequence  of  a  reduction  of  the  length  of  the 
work-day,  then  certainly  the  cost  of  the  product  could  not  be 
enhanced,  because  the  price  per  hour  would  remain  the  same, 
and  certainly  the  product  of  one  hour  in  eight  would  not  be 
less,  but  in  some  cases  would  be  greater  than  the  product  of 
one  hour  in  ten.  It  will  be  still  further  agreed,  that  to  produce 
the  same  amount  of  product  as  is  now  demanded,  one-fifth 
more  employees  would  be  required,  thus  creating  or  awaken- 
ing a  new  market  of  consumers. 

This  statement  of  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the  reduc- 
tion of  hours,  without  an  increase  of  wages,  shows  conclusively 
that  the  wages  would  be  increased ;  for  the  .employment  of 
more  men  to  produce  the  same  amount  of  product  would 
necessarily  quicken  the  demand  in  the  labor-market.  Les- 
sening the  number  of  unemployed  would  give  the  employed 
the  opportunity  to  demand  more  wages. 


472 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


To  the  claim  that  less  hours  of  labor  means  less  wages  to 
the  employee,  we  point  to  all  past  experience  as  the  answer. 
The  history  of  the  labor  movement  shows  that,  from  1832  to 
1853,  a  reduction  of  three  hours  per  day  had  been  made  in 
many  of  the  employments,  and  that  this  considerable  reduc- 
tion of  one  hour  every  six  and  a  half  years  was  followed  by 
an  increased  purchasing  power  of  the  day's  labor.  The 
experience  in  this  country  is  the  same  as  that  in  England. 
For,  while  the  workingmen  were  commencing  the  agitation  in 
the  council  chamber  of  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1832,  the  same 
agitation  had  reached  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  ;  for  it 
was  in  that  year  that  Michael  T.  Sadler  introduced  the  ten- 
hour  bill,  and  by  his  enthusiasm  and  energy  calling  into  the 
advocacy  of  this  measure  the  Earl  of  Shaftsbury,  John  Field- 
ing, and  William  Cobbett,  who  were  supported  by  Lord 
Macaulay,  the  Bishops  of  Manchester  and  Oxford,  and  Earls 
of  Ellsmere  and  Fersham. 

Experience  has  not  only  proved  in  England  that  wages 
were  not  reduced,  but  were  advanced,  so  that  more  than 
twice  as  much  flour  could  be  purchased  by  a  day's  work  in 
1850  than  could  be  purchased  in  1804. 

The  oft-repeated  statement,  that  less  hours  of  labor  means 
less  wages,  is  historically  untrue  and  theoretically  unsound, 
and  is  based  upon  a  false  theory  of  the  law  governing  wages. 
If  wages  were  regulated  by  the  number  of  hours  of  work,  then 
among  those  classes  or  communities  where  the  day's  work  was 
longest,  wages  would  be  highest,  and  where  a  day's  work  was 
shortest  wages  would  be  lowest.  The  reverse  is  true.  Civ- 
ilization follows  the  line  of  less  hours  of  daily  work ;  and 
civilization  simply  means,  materially,  the  highest  purchasing 
power  of  a  day's  labor. 

The  great  governing  law  of  wages  rests  upon  the  habits  of 
thought  and  feeling,  customs  and  manners  of  the  masses. 
Where  the  level  of  thought  is  purely  physical  or  animal,  — 
groveling  with  the  swine  it  feeds,  occupied  in  discussing  the 
fighting  merits  of  game-cocks  or  men,  and  where  the  custom 
exists  of  working  at  all  hours  possible,  occupying  the  hours 
of  holidays  and  other  periods  of  rest  in  filth  and  drunkenness, 


SHORTER  HOURS  DEMANDED.  473 

—  there  wages  will  be  paid  to  the  level  that  will  enable  the 
laborers  to  enjoy  themselves  in  their  own  low  condition.  To 
disturb  this  class  of  men  from  their  sottish  contentment  by  an 
agitation  for  more  wages  or  less  hours,  is  to  lift  them  up  in  the 
level  of  their  manhood  to  thoughts  of  better  things,  and  to  an 
organized  demand  for  the  same. 

The  school-taught  American  boy,  compelled  by  the  customs 
of  his  village  to  be  neatly  dressed,  and  competent  to  hold  his 
own  with  his  fellows  in  matters  of  literary  attainment,  will 
not  rest  satisfied  with  wages  that  compel  him  to  forego  the 
appetites  that  the  school-room  created.  His  wages  must  give 
him  opportunities  of  association,  of  travel,  of  reading  ;  and 
these  are  among  the  most  expensive  habits  incident  to  a 
shorter  work-day,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  lyceum, 
debating-school,  lecture-room  and  library  received  its  impetus 
when  the  hours  of  labor  were  reduced  to  ten.  The  mammoth 
and  wonderful  circulation  which  the  daily  papers  of  the  large 
cities  have  obtained  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  common  people 
are  considering  the  questions  of  public  moment.  The  fact 
that  space  is  given  to  sports  and  to  crime,  and  to  those  things 
which  appeal  more  to  the  physical  man,  is  not  so  much  due  to 
the  demand  of  the  working  people  for  this  kind  of  reading  as 
to  the  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  community  —  not  wage- 
workers —  are  interested  pecuniarily  in  these  games,  and  to 
the  existence  of  a  large  criminal  gambling  class,  as  well  as 
to  the  fact,  as  far  as  athletic  games  are  concerned,  that  in  all 
periods  of  time  physical  sports  have  been  looked  upon  as  a 
proper  physical  recreation ;  and  those  who  cannot  enjoy 
themselves  by  participation  enjoy,  at  least,  the  pleasure  of 
reading  accounts  of  them. 

James  Hole  says :  "  Inferior  habits  of  living  are  as  much 
the  cause  as  they  are  the  result  of  low  wages ;  "  and  John 
Stewart  Mill  says  :  "  No  remedies  for  low  wages  have  the 
smallest  chance  of  being  efficacious,  which  do  not  operate  on 
and  through  the  minds  or  habits  of  the  people."  Reducing 
the  hours  of  labor  acts  more  directly  on  the  habits  and 
thoughts  of  the  people  than  any  other  measure  heretofore 
proposed. 


474  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

It  is  true  that  those  who  have  acquired  bad  habits  under  the 
old  system  are  in  danger  of  continuing  them  through  the  mo- 
mentum already  gained ;  but  the  fact  that  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  working  classes  are  as  measurably  correct,  and  that 
opportunities  heretofore  given  have  been  opportunities  im- 
proved, and  that  leisure  operates  upon  the  home,  stimulating 
home  influences  for  good,  —  lessening  the  hours  of  household 
drudgery,  and  giving  the  husband  and  wife  opportunities  of 
improvement  heretofore  unknown,  is  evidence  that  less  hours 
of  wage-service  yield  more  hours  for  individual  and  public 
good.  The  claim  that  to  lessen  the  hours  of  work  would 
tend  to  increase  intemperance,  vice  and  crime  is  answered  bv 
the  undeniable  fact,  as  testified  to  by  men  of  large  experience 
and  observation,  who  unite  in  their  testimony  that  the  intem- 
perate and  the  vicious  habits  in  England  and  America  —  the 
drunken  Monday,  as  well  as  the  debauched  Sunday  —  have 
been  partially  remedied,  and  that  the  halls  of  meeting  and 
reading-rooms  have  multiplied  by  the  thousand  wherever  the 
short  work-day  has  been  generally  introduced. 

The  claim  of  the  manufacturer  and  capitalist,  that  this  sys- 
tem would  tend  to  lessen  the  profits  upon  the  capital  invested, 
is  well  made.  The  inevitable  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of 
reduced  profits,  and  the  hope  of  the  future  rests  upon  these 
two  facts  :  that  while  profit  upon  capital  is  being  diminished, 
profit  upon  labor  is  being  increased,  and  the  capitalist  and 
the  middle-man  classes  are  being  ground  to  powder  between 
this  upper  and  nether  millstone  of  progressive  civilization. 
It  is  said  that,  if  profits  are  reduced,  capital  will  not  seek  in- 
vestment, and  hence  enterprise  will  be  checked.  Capital  is 
soon  consumed  when  not  recuperated  by  interests,  rents  or 
profits.  It  will  be  forced  to  accept  such  percentage  as  the 
civilization  of  the  times  will  permit  it  to  have  ;  and  the  inse- 
curity of  the  capital  itself,  when  invested  in  speculative  and 
gambling  enterprises,  will  always  tend  to  force  the  conserva- 
tive possessor  to  seek  safe  investment,  however  small  the 
rate  of  interest. 

The  demand  of  our  time  is  for  the  rapid  production  of 
things.  The  stage-coach  is  superseded  by  the  steam-engine, 


SUPPLY    AND    DEMAND.  475 

and  steam  gives  way  to  electricity.  The  price  of  the  product 
of  the  manufacturer  is  governed  largely  by  the  quantity  it  is 
possible  for  him  to  produce  in  a  given  time.  Not  many  years 
ago,  the  manufacturer  who  turned  out  a  few  score  of  cases 
of  shoes  a  week  was  considered  fortunate;  but  to-day,  more 
shoes  are  turned  out  in  a  day  by  our  manufacturers  than  were 
turned  out  in  a  month,  or  many  months,  thirty  years  ago.  An 
investigation  of  the  causes  for  this  rapid  production  brings  us 
back  again  to  the  wage-question.  The  larger  the  demand, 
the  larger  the  means  of  supply.  The  demand  determines  the 
amount,  the  market  determines  the  demand,  the  condition  of 
the  people  determines  the  market,  and  the  rate  of  wages 
determines  the  condition  of  the  people.  High  wages  under 
short  hours  mean  that  a  large  share  of  the  products  of  wealth 
are  being  distributed  among  the  earners  of  wealth  ;  and  capi- 
tal will  be  forced,  finally,  to  consider  the  question  of  offering 
to  the  laborer  a  genuine  partnership,  in  which  the  elements 
of  common  risk  and  common  profit  shall  enter.  The  indi- 
vidual employer,  when  forced  to  meet  this  question  of  reduced 
hours,  looks  naturally  and  properly  to  his  own  immediate 
profit ;  but,  to  be  successful  in  the  future  of  our  manufacturing 
industries,  he  must  consider  the  man,  not  only  as  a  producer, 
but  a  consumer.  To  reduce  wages  is  to  turn  civilization 
backwards ;  to  advance  wages  is  to  lift  civilization  to  a 
higher  level. 

The  argument  which  has  the  most  powerful  influence 
against  the  demand  for  less  hours  of  toil  is,  that  to  grant 
this  demand  would  necessarily  increase  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion. The  elements  of  cost  in  any  enterprise  are,  first,  the 
ruling  rate  of  interest  upon  the  money  invested,  the  price 
of  the  raw  material,  the  cost  of  labor,  and  the  cost  of  placing 
the  goods  upon  the  market.  We  have  seen  that  the  cost  of 
the  article  is  regulated  more  by  the  number  of  the  article  de- 
manded—  that  is,  by  the  condition  of  the  market — than  from 
any  other  cause ;  that  to  make  one  chair  would  cost,  first  of 
all,  more  than  to  make  one  of  a  thousand  chairs,  and  so  of 
all  other  products  of  hand  or  machine-labor.  Labor-saving 
machinery  is  never  introduced  until  it  pays ;  and  it  never  pays 


476  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

until  wages  "have  advanced  to  that  point  that  it  is  cheaper  to 
have  the  work  performed  by  machinery  than  by  hand. 
High  wages,  then,  invite  more  and  more  machinery,  de- 
mand more  and  more  goods,  call  for  more  rapid  produc- 
tion, lessen  profits,  and  increase  the  purchasing  power  of 
labor.  That  this  will  ultimately  revolutionize  the  whole 
system  of  employers  and  employees,  is  as  inevitable  as  it  is 
desirable  ;  and  no  man  will  be  necessarily  rendered  uncom- 
fortable because  of  the  fact  that  the  many  may  have  been 
rendered  more  comfortable.  The  extremes  existing  in  society 
will  be  abolished,  and  with  these  extremes  the  curses  and 
crimes  incident  to  poverty  and  extreme  wealth  will  disappear. 
If  the  world  is  too  poor  to  provide  mausoleums  worth  from 
$100,000  to  $250,000  for  dead  capitalists,  neither  civiliza- 
tion nor  the  decaying  bones  of  the  departed  monopolist  will 
suffer.  If  the  fewer  cannot  make  their  semi-annual  trips  for 
extravagant  display  in  foreign  countries,  the  many  will  be 
able  to  make  trips  of  recreation  and  of  observation  to  their 
benefit,  and  the  general  advancement  of  society. 

The  claim  that  the  stimulant  to  labor  would  be  overcome, 
if  getting  a  living  were  made  easier,  is  not  sustained  by  experi- 
ence. Men  who  think  they  can  retire  on  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, when  they  attain  that  sum,  are  more  anxious  to  double 
the  amount;  and  contentment  in  one's  position  is  unknown, 
except  among  the  most  degraded  and  depraved.  Men  will 
be  stimulated  but  by  higher  motives ;  and  stimulated,  not  so 
much  from  the  desire  of  individual  aggregations  as  for  public 
aggregations,  because  he  and  all  others  will  be  benefited 
therein.  The  demand  for  public  parks  in  our  great  cities, 
although,  perhaps,  fostered  in  a  measure  by  speculators  and 
contractors,  has  its  firm  footing  upon  the  common  impulse 
for  opportunities  for  public  possessions  for  general  enjoy- 
ment. 

Of  the  evils  of  over-work,  or  of  the  "  long-hour  system," 
as  well  as  of  the  moral,  educational  and  physical  influences 
of  a  shorter  work-day,  much  has  been  said  and  written.  The 
space  allotted  to  this  chapter  can  only  permit  a  reference  to 
the  history  of  the  movement,  as  evidence  that  the  working 


COLD    LUNCHES. 


477 


people  themselves  have  continually  pointed  out  the  physical 
a-nd  moral  degradation  of  over-work,  and  have  exemplified 
the  benefits  of  leisure. 

In  the  days  before  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machin- 
ery to  any  extent,  every  craftsman  became  a  skilled  workman 
in  a  sense  that  is  now  but  little  understood ;  each  workman 
turning  out  a  completed  article ;  and  the  work  upon  these  dif- 
ferent parts  called  .into  requisition  not  only  different  muscles 
of  the  body,  but  different  faculties  of  the  mind,  form,  shape 
and  color,  as  well  as  something  of  the  imaginative  and  poetical 
nature  of  man,  in  giving  finish  to  the  constructive  whole. 
The  visitor  to  the  workshop  or  shoe-shop  of  forty  years  ago 
would  witness  the  craftsman  turning  over  in  his  hand,  and  look- 
ing with  something  of  pride  and  admiration  at  the  finished 
work  of  the  hand  and  brain. 

The  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  will  tend  very 
much  to  remedy  the  evil  effects  of  the  present  system  of  the 
division  of  labor.  Less  hours  of  application  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  fractional  part  of  a  product  will  give  more  hours  to 
the  development  of  those  muscles  of  the  body  in  the  self-em- 
ployment at  the  home,  and  more  time  for  the  development  of 
the  moral  and  mental  qualities  through  opportunities  of  civili- 
zation, observation  and  association. 

Under  the  present  system,  in  many  places,  and  espe-, 
cially  in  the  large  cities,  the  hours  of  labor  are  practically 
from  twelve  to  thirteen  per  day.  Forty  years  ago,  the 
laborer  lived  near  his  workshop  or  factory ;  now,  the 
enhanced  cost  of  land  forces  the  laborer  to  the  extremities 
of  the  city,  or  the  suburbs,  and  to-day  many  a  skilled  work- 
man, working  ten  hours  per  day  in  the  shop,  is  forced  to 
eat  his  breakfast  at  half-past  five  in  the  morning,  that  he  may 
reach  his  work  at  seven.  He  is  compelled  also  to  take  with 
him  a  cold  lunch  for  the  mid-day  meal,  or  buy  his  dinner  at 
a  convenient  restaurant, — the  former  course  being  the  most 
prevalent ;  he  returns  from  his  work,  arriving  at  home  at 
seven,  or  half-past,  in  the  evening,  exhausted  physically  by 
his  work  and  the  lack  of  a  hearty  warm  mid-day  meal,  as  well 
as  by  a  much  too  early  breakfast,  demoralized  mentally  by 


478  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

his  constant  application  to  the  repeated  operation  of  but  few 
faculties.  To  take  two  hours  off  his  working-time  would 
then  leave  his  hours  of  labor,  or  hours  occupied  in  the  neces- 
sity of  earning  a  living,  over  ten ;  but  would  enable  him,  in 
many  cases,  to  remove  his  family  still  further  away  from  his 
work,  into  more  healthful  surroundings,  and  to  resort  to  steam 
facilities  for  travel. 

Two  methods  have  been  attempted  to  secure  this  boon  for 
labor :  one,  the  strike ;  the  other,  legislation.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  strike  has  won  the  most  in  this  direction.  It 
was  the  organized  movement  in  Australia  that  won  the  eight- 
hour  system  for  the  trades  there.  It  was  the  strike  of  the 
ship-builders  and  calkers,  and  of  the  building-trades,  that 
won  the  ten-hour  day ;  and,  certainly,  it  was  the  strike  which 
forced  public  attention  to  the  consideration  of  the  question 
and  directed  to  the  advocacy  of  this  measure  men  outside  of 
the  wage-earning  classes.  Factory  operatives,  and  others  of 
the  most  helpless  classes,  —  those  who  have  been  ground  down 
by  factory  discipline  and  corporate  greed,  where  the  largest 
number  of  children  and  women  are  employed,  and  where 
every  effort  has  been  made  and  is  being  made  to  drive  in- 
telligent laborers  out  of  the  industry,  to  be  supplanted  by 
the  cheapest  foreign  element,  —  for  them  legislation  is  a 
necessity.  But  when  these  women  and  children,  without 
votes  and  without  wealth  or  influence,  ask  for  legislation, 
they  are  met  by  the  so-called  political  economists,  whose  theo- 
ries agree  with  their  pecuniary  interests,  with  the  statement 
that  such  legislation  would  destroy  the  great  right  of  freedom 
of  contract. 

FREEDOM    OF    CONTRACT. 

It  is  the  old,  old  story  of  those  who  oppose  legislative 
interference  against  pecuniary  interests.  The  criminal  and 
vicious  classes  ask  not  to  be  interfered  with.  Rumsellers 
oppose  interference,  either  by  license  or  prohibition  ;  they  say 
the  people  have  the  right  to  drink,  or  to  let  it  alone.  The 
builders  of  the  great  tenement-houses,  whose  imperfect  walls 
threaten  human  life,  doubtless  object  to  the  legislative  inter- 


FREEDOM    OF    CONTRACT. 


479 


ference  which  provides  inspectors  of  public  buildings,  and 
forces  them  to  build  the  walls  of  a  certain  thickness,  and  to 
make  the  structure  safe.  So,  too,  when  this  same  greed 
crowds  hundreds  of  families  into  crowded  rooms,  damp  cel- 
lars and  leaky  attics,  where  neither  sunlight  nor  pure  air  can 
penetrate, — these  owners,  doubtless,  object  to  legislative  inter- 
ference, that  in  the  name  of  public  safety  and  public  health 
requires  the  fulfillment  of  certain  prescribed  sanitary  condi- 
tions. Hackmen  cannot  have  the  freedom  of  contract  to 
charge  the  passenger  who  arrives  at  the  railway-station  such 
price  as  the  driver  may  dictate ;  the  maximum  amount  he 
shall  receive  for  the  carriage  of  passengers  is  fixed  by  law. 
The  butchers  and  bone-boilers,  the  managers  of  obnoxious 
trades,  and  proprietors  of  establishments  devoted  to  the  manu- 
facture of  explosives,  do  not  have  the  freedom  to  contract  to 
manufacture  where  they  will,  but  must  be  assigned  by  gov- 
ernment officials,  or  obtain  permission,  before  they  can  locate 
their  factories. 

Legislative  bodies  have  the  right  to  interfere,  as  they  shall 
judge  to  be  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  Commonwealth, — 
not  as  shall  serve  the  good  of  the  few,  but  of  the  many. 

A  contract  supposes  tiuo  parties, — one  with  something  to 
sell,  and  one  wishing  to  buy.  Whatever  tends  to  put  one  of 
these  parties  under  the  power  of  the  other,  destroys  the  free- 
dom of  the  act.  Under  the  wage-system,  no  congregated 
form  of  labor  is  conducted  on  the  theory  of  freedom  of  con- 
tract. At  a  recent  hearing  before  a  legislative  body,  the 
treasurer  of  a  large  manufactory  was  asked  if  he  ever  con- 
sulted with  his  help  in  reference  to  the  matter  of  wages.  His 
answer  was,  "Do  you  suppose  I  run  my  establishment  on  the 
town-meeting  plan?"  In  other  words,  he  confessed,  as  all 
employers  confess,  that  they  do  not  propose  to  allow  any 
freedom  of  contract  as  between  them  and  their  employees. 
The  contract,  so-called,  is  an  agreement  that  the  employer 
or  corporation  shall  name  all  of  the  conditions  to  the  bargain. 
The  only  opportunities  for  the  nearest  approach  to  the  free- 
dom of  contract,  is  when  a  powerful  labor  organization  has 
practically  obtained  a  monopoly  of  their  craft,  —  that  is,  that 


480  '     THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

a  manufacturer  cannot  employ  help,  unless  they  are  members 
of  the  Union.  In  this  case,  the  manufacturer  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employees  meet  on  equal  terms,  provided 
that  the  organization  is  strong  enough  to  remain  from  work 
for  such  a  length  of  time  as  shall  so  diminish  the  capital  in- 
vested in  the  enterprise  as  to  cause  bankruptcy.  No  one  is 
better  acquainted  with  these  facts  than  the  distinguished 
representative  of  the  non-interference  political  economists, 
who,  failing  to  find  a  remedy  for  the  evils  that  affect  man- 
kind, has  gone  back  to  the  propositions  advanced  by  a  dis- 
tinguished Englishman  in  the  last  century,  —  that  the  people 
"must  be  educated  to  live  cheaper," — and  has  followed  the 
example  of  Sir  Frederick  Eden,  in  giying  to  the  world 
receipts  showing  how  to  cook  shin-bone  soup.  The  remedy 
will  not  come  through  making  people  live  cheaper,  but  by 
making  them  live  dearer.  Shin-bone  soup  may  prove  nutri- 
tious, and  would  be  found  beneficial  as  a  diet  to  the  apo- 
plectically  inclined,  but  would  not  answer  as  a  sustenance  for 
those  who  by  their  labor  produce  the  wealth  of  the  world. 

The  old  cry  of  the  partnership  between  labor  and  capital 
has  finally  awakened  in  the  minds  of  the  silent  partners  in  the 
concern  a  demand  for  an  examination  of  accounts,  as  wrell  as 
a  more  equitable  division  of  the  profits.  Heretofore,  the 
laborer,  having  no  right  of  free  contract,  sold  his  labor  at 
such  terms  and  for  such  time  as  the  proprietor  or  employer 
should  fix  ;  and  if,  at  any  time,  the  laborer  asked  for  higher 
remuneration,  he  was  informed  that  the  interests  of  the  enter- 
prise would  not  permit  an  advance,  and  that,  as  one  of  the 
partners  in  the  labor  and  capital  combination,  he  must  waive 
any  right  to  increased  payment,  lest  he  should  hazard  the 
existence  of  the  enterprise. 

Another  so-called  "argument"  against  either  legislation  or 
strikes  for  shorter  hours  of  labor  is  based  on  the  "demand  and 
supply"  theory. 

It  is  true,  that  if  laborers  are  plenty,  and  opportunities  of 
labor  few,  and  the  laborers  are  compelled  to  sell  their  labor 
or  starve,  then  wages  will  fall  to  the  level  of  the  barest  ex' 
istence  upon  which  the  poorest  of  their  number  can  live ;  and 


MASTKR    AND    SLAVK.  .|8l 

if  laborers  are  scarce,  and  opportunities  of  labor  plenty, 
wages  would  be  naturally  advanced ;  but  it  will  be  noted, 
that  the  reduction  of  wages,  in  the  first  instance,  is  due  to  the 
fact  of  the  inability  of  the  worker  to  sustain  himself  until  the 
opportunities  for  labor  are  improved.  If  a  merchant  or 
manufacturer  finds  that  his  merchandise  is  not  salable,  he 
does  not  necessarily  continue  in  multiplying  the  product ;  nor 
does  he  force  his  product  upon  the  market  at  the  declining 
price,  or  sell  it  at  all,  excepting  under  the  same  conditions 
that  the  laborer  sells  his  labor,  —  fear  of  bankruptcy.  Under 
that  fear,  he  may  sell  the  product  at  much  less  than  cost,  as 
the  least  of  the  two  evils  ;  as  the  laborer  will  sell  his  labor  for 
a  mere  loaf  of  bread  for  himself  and  family,  if  that  is  the  best 
he  can  obtain. 

Mr.  Ira  Steward,  who  gave  great  thought  and  considera- 
tion to  this  question,  and  who  was,  perhaps,  the  deepest 
thinker  which  it  has  produced,  used  these  words,  in  referring 
to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  :  "The  employer  is  the 
master,  and  the  employee  is  the  slave,  of  this  law."  The 
organization  of  laborers  will  free  the  laborer  from  these 
slavish  conditions.  He  will  deal  with  his  commodity,  — 
selling  as  much  of  it,  or  withholding  it,  according  to  the 
market ;  and,  as  capitalists  have  heretofore  imported  cheap 
laborers  to  take  the  place  of  the  higher-paid,  so  labor  will 
restrict  the  importation  of  cheap  labor,  and  thereby  inaugu- 
rate a  protective  tariff,  which  will  protect  the  wages  of  the 
laborer,  as  it  now  protects  the  profits  of  the  capitalists. 

The  eight-hour  movement  is  the  movement  of  the  laborer 
toward  higher  wages  or  higher  profit  on  his  investment  of 
time.  When  a  man  invests  his  past  accumulations  in  any 
enterprise,  he  not  only  seeks  the  security  of  his  investment, 
but  such  remuneration  for  his  services  as  shall  permit  him  to 
live  according  to  the  custom  of  his  class,  and  in  addition  to 
this  payment  for  services,  a  payment  for  the  investment  in  the 
shape  of  interests  or  profits,  —  such  interests  or  profits  to  cover 
not  only  the  necessary  growth  of  the  enterprise,  but  its  insur- 
ance against  loss  by  fire,  or  against  loss  by  any  stagnation  of 
industry  or  financial  panic  that  may  arise.  Under  the  present 

(30 


482  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

system,  he  is  justified  in  taking  all  these  precautions ;  but  the 
laborer  is  compelled  under  the  wage-system  to  sell  his  com- 
modity to-day,  or  not  sell  it  at  all.  A  day's  opportunity  to  labor 
lost  is  never  regained,  and  the  laborer  is  forced  to  sell  his  skill 
and  time  without  any  reference  to  the  security  of  his  investment. 
He  may  jeopardize  his  health,  his  limbs  or  his  life  ;  the  margin 
of  his  wages  will  not  cover  these  elements  of  risk,  nor  will  it 
guarantee  provision  against  the  stagnation  of  industry,  fires, 
panics  or  the  failure  of  his  immediate  employer.  Neither  has 
he  any  provision  by  which  he  can  provide  for  himself  or 
family,  in  case  of  the  ordinary  casualties  of  life,  or  when  he  is 
unable  to  labor.  The  eight-hour  movement  seeks  to  remedy 
this  by  giving  to  the  laborer  under  the  wage-system,  first,  the 
advantages  now  possessed  by  the  capitalist  until  the  profits 
upon  his  labor  now  obtained  by  the  employer  and  middle-man 
shall  so  diminish  and  his  own  increase,  that  finally  the  profit 
upon  labor  shall  cease,  and  co-operative  labor  be  inaugurated 
in  the  place  of  wage-labor. 

The  great  uplifting  influences  of  leisure  are  manifest  every- 
where. The  busy  man,  devoting  no  time  to  the  obtaining  of 
a  broad  knowledge  of  the  things  of  this  life,  or  of  the  physi- 
cal, mental  or  moral  laws  of  our  being,  or  of  the  universe, 
is  but  a  narrow  man  ;  and,  however  much  he  may  accumulate 
wealth,  he  will  still  be  looked  upon  by  the  cultured  wealthy  as 
a  boor,  unfit  for  their  society.  The  reduction  of  the  hours  of 
labor  is  placing  the  lever  of  civilization  under  the  humblest 
man,  and  lifting  him  up  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  opportunities 
of  civilization,  making  him  a  better  man  in  this  world  and  in 
the  world  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES    OF    THE    K.    OF    L. 

UNJUST  ACCUMULATIONS  —  MORAL  WORTH  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  —  FOXCRAFT 
—  ONE  GREAT  SOLIDARITY  —  NATURAL  LAW  OF  DEVELOPMENT  — 
THE  DEMAND  FOR  LEISURE  —  NATURAL  WEALTH  —  NATIONALIZATION 
OF  LAND  —  GIVING  AWAY  EMPIRES  —  PUBLIC  OWNERSHIP  OF  RAIL- 
ROADS —  CONSPIRACY  AND  BOYCOTTING  —  CHIEF-JUSTICE  SHAW'S  DE- 
CISION—  EMPLOYERS'  LIABILITY  LAW  —  ABOLITION  OF  THE  CONTRACT 
SYSTEM  —  ARBITRATION  —  CONVICT  LABOR  —  GRADUATED  INCOME 
TAX  —  FINANCE  —  NATIONAL  BANKS  AND  BANKERS  —  PROHIBITION  OF 
THE  IMPORTATION  OF  FOREIGN  LABOR  —  ARTIFICIALLY  STIMULATED 
EMIGRATION  —  CO-OPERATION  —  THE  OLIVE  BRANCH  OF  PEACE. 

CIVILIZATION  is  but  another  name  for  progress  in  the 
direction  of  the  better  distribution  of  the  material  com- 
forts and  ipental  and  moral  opportunities  of  mankind.  What- 
ever tends  to  assist  in  the  equitable  adjustment  of  the  relations 
of  laborers  and  capitalists  tends  to  the  public  good.  The 
Preamble  to  the  Constitution,  or  Declaration  of  Principles  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  which  was  adopted  at  the  first  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  in  1878,  seeks  these  results  ;  and  it  is 
the  embodiment  of  the  measures  formulated  by  experience  and 
observation  of  the  organized  labor  movement  from  1825  to  the 
present  time.  It  is  the  same  in  scope,  and  nearly  the  same 
in  language,  as  that  adopted  by  the  National  Labor  Congress 
of  1874,  as  giyen  m  Chapter  X. 

This  Preamble  demands,  not  the  division  of  past  accumula- 
tions, however  unjustly  accumulated,  but  rather  that  measures 
be  provided  for  the  distribution  of  products  and  opportunities 
in  the  future,  by  and  through  the  wage-system,  until  the 
moral  and  social  wisdom  and  the  increased  wealth  of  the 
masses  shall  ultimate  in  co-operation. 

An  examination  of  the  Preamble  in  detail  shows  a  desire  to 
check  unjust  accumulation  and  the  power  for  evil  of  aggre- 
gated wealth  by  perfectly  legitimate  means.  Building  up 

(483) 


484  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

from  a  firm  foundation  of  the  moral  worth  of  the  individual,  it 
enlarges  gradually  and  symmetrically,  first  in  the  direction  of 
material  wants, —  better  wages  or  a  more  equitable  share  of 
the  wealth  created ;  then  reaching  out  toward  the  intellectual 
and  social  opportunities  which  come  from  less  hours  of  em- 
ployment for  gain,  and  more  time  for  the  employment  of  their 
faculties  for  the  greater  gain  of  their  moral  and  mental 
growth.  It  cannot  be  gain-said  that  as  material  wealth  in- 
creases, the  share  of  each  should  increase,  and  that  the  ten- 
dency toward  the  aggregation  of  wealth  into  the  hands  of  those 
whose  faculties  of  absorption  have  been  unduly  stimulated, 
furnishes  a  power  to  the  few,  which  makes  the  possessor  a 
dangerous  factor  to  society. 

Men  wholly  developed  in  all  the  attributes  of  manhood  can 
not  become  accumulators.  It  is  only  toward  those  possessing 
special  qualifications  of  management,  of  speculation  and  of 
foxcraft  that  the  flow  of  accumulated  wealth  centres.  That 
these  giants  of  the  industrial  system  have  served  as  treasurers 
of  the  common  fund,  and  that  their  services  under  the  com- 
petitive system  have  been  of  value  in  the  development  of  vast 
enterprises,  will  not  be  denied  ;  but  that  they  are  unduly  paid 
and  unjustly  rewarded,  is  generally  conceded.  Vanderbilt's 
two  hundred  millions  of  dollars  were  not  the  result  of  his 
executive  ability,  but  the  result  of  the  conditions  existing  in 
consequence  of  the  distribution  of  wealth  which  had  already 
been  accomplished.  The  system  of  railroads  which  rendered 
it  possible  to  carry  a  barrel  of  flour  from  the  West  to  the  East 
for  seventy  cents  was  possible  because  of  the  population  upon 
the  line  and  at  the  termination  of  these  railways,  over  whose 
power  of  demand  and  consumption  he  had  not  been  the  con- 
trolling factor.  He  found  the  demand,  the  steam-power  and 
the  railway  service  already  inaugurated.  The  principles  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor  makes  no  war  upon  Vanderbilts,  but 
upon  the  system  which  makes  Vanderbilts  possible. 

The  Knights  of  Labor  believe  that  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  the  conditions  now  existing  will  develop  methods  out 
of  which  the  results  achieved  by  Vanderbilts  can  be  attained 
without  the  depression  of  the  many,  and  the  rich  rewarding  of 


JUST    MEASURE    OF    CIVILIZATION.  485 

the  few.  None  of  these  mammoth  enterprises  were  possible, 
even  to  these  giant  organizers,  but  for  the  standard  of  living 
which  had  been  attained  through  our  free  political  and  edu- 
cational systems  and  the  higher  moral  attainments  of  our 
people,  as  well  as  the  great  help  rendered  them  by  legislative 
enactments  or  legislative  interference  with  the  operations  of 
natural  law. 

This  preamble  well  says,  that  "  The  alarming  development 
and'aggressiveness  of  great  capitalists  and  corporations,  un- 
less checked,  will  inevitably  lead  to  the  pauperization  and 
hopeless  degradation  of  the  toiling  masses."  The  demand  of 
the  Knights  is,  then,  that  this  development  shall  be  checked, 
not  only  because  of  the  danger  to  our  institutions  from  the 
power  of  these  great  monopolists  and  monopolies,  but  because 
of  the  pauperization  and  degradation  of  the  workers  in  conse- 
quence thereof.  The  method  of  checking  and  remedying 
this  evil  is,  first,  the  organization  of  all  laborers  into  one 
great  solidarity,  and  the  direction  of  their  united  efforts 
toward  the  measures  that  shall,  by  peaceful  processes,  evolve 
the  working  classes  out  of  their  present  condition  in  the  wage- 
system  into  a  co-operative  system.  This  organization  does 
not  profess  to  be  a  political  party,  nor  does  it  propose  to 
organize  a  political  party ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  proposes  to 
exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  direction  of  obtaining 
such  legislation  as  shall  assist  the  natural  law  of  develop- 
ment. It  is  true  that  the  demands  are  revolutionary,  as  it 
is  the  purpose  of  the  Order  to  establish  a  new  and  true 
standard  of  individual  and  national  greatness. 

To-day  the  possession  of  wealth  is  the  great  factor  that  is 
recognized  as  the  standard  of  power,  and,  too  often,  of  worth. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  seek  to  make  industrial  and  moral 
worth  the  standard,  —  giving  honor  to  those  who  work  in  any 
of  the  fields  of  labor,  whether  of  the  hand  or  of  the  brain, 
and  relegating  the  possession  of  wealth  back  to  its  true 
position. 

The  first  step  in  the  direction  of  this  change  "  is  to  secure  to 
the  workers  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  wealth  they  create, 
sufficient  leisure  in  which  to  develop  their  intellectual,  moral 


486  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  social  faculties,  all  of  the  benefits  of  recreation,  and 
pleasures  of  association ;  in  a  word,  to  enable  them  to  share 
in  the  gains  and  honors  of  advancing  civilization."  To  ascer- 
tain as  nearly  as  possible  how  much  of  the  wealth  of  the 
world  is  created  by  labor,  as  well  as  to  expose  the  true  con- 
dition of  the  workers,  it  desires  the  establishment  of  bureaus 
of  labor  statistics. 

Natural  wealth,  although  at  present  in  the  hands  of  indi- 
vidual proprietors,  was  originally  common  property,  and  was 
first  obtained  by  physical  power,  by  robbery  or  fraud.  The 
driving  of  the  native  from  the  land  of  his  fathers,  — the  com- 
mon property  of  all,  — to  make  way  for  a  newer  and  grander 
civilization,  cannot  be  justified  if  these  possessions  are  to  re- 
main in  the  hands  of  the  individual  proprietors,  and  not  as  the 
common  property  of  all.  If  the  natives  were  driven  away 
from  their  possessions  in  the  name  of  civilization,  then  in  that 
name  their  possessions  should  be  common  property. 

The  first  step  in  the  immediate  direction  of  the  possession 
of  wealth  by  its  producers,  is  by  the  conferring  of  sufficient 
leisure  upon  the  masses  for  their  development.  The  argu- 
ment to  sustain  this  claim  is  contained  in  another  chapter.  In 
this  place  we  can  only  add,  that  this  demand  is  the  ever-rally- 
ing cry  of  organized  labor  everywhere.  The  demand  for 
legislative  interference  in  the  direction  of  shortening  the  hours 
of  labor  has  stamped  itself  upon  the  statute-books  of  all  civil- 
ized nations.  It  is  not  merely  a  coincident  of  history,  that, 
to  the  demand  for  shorter  hours  of  labor,  or  more  leisure,  is 
added  the  demand  that  the  public  lands  be  reserved  for  actual 
settlers.  In  the  history  of  the  movement  in  this  country,  these 
two  great  measures  'have  kept  step  together.  The  early 
leaders  of  the  labor  movement,  before  the  great  West  was 
opened  up  to  civilization,  and  when  our  public  lands  were 
public  empires,  greater  in  extent  than  the  whole  of  continental 
Europe,  foresaw  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  Republic 
through  the  powers  of  speculators,  corporations  and  un- 
scrupulous legislators,  and  sought  to  remedy  the  evil.  Since 
their  day,  we  have  witnessed  the  giving  away  of  empires  from 
the  public  land  to  aid  and  assist  corporation  enterprises  and 


LABOR'S  DEMANDS.  487 

individual  efforts  ;  we  have  witnessed  systems  of  stock-water- 
ing and  bribery,  the  corruption  of  public  offices  and  courts  of 
justice  of  these  same  mammoths  of  capital.  Hence,  the 
Knights  of  Labor  demand  the  reservation  of  all  lands  not 
already  disposed  of,  and  the  reclaiming  of  such  as  can  be 
legally  reclaimed. 

The  great  common  public  have  given  away  their  inheri- 
tance to  railroad  corporations ;  and  the  acts  of  Congress,  in 
thus  conferring  these  great  estates  on  individual  enterprises, 
have  been  justified  under  the  supposition  that  the  public  would 
thereby  be  benefited  by  bringing  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coasts  into  closer  relations  with  each  other.  We  have  no 
desire  to  dispute  the  cjaim  that  the  building  of  these  great 
roads  has  worked  a  public  benefit ;  but,  as  the  government 
furnished  the  land  and  the  credit  or  capital  necessary  for  the 
enterprise,  we  know  of  no  good  reason  why  the  property  and 
the  profits,  if  any,  should  be  divided  among  the  few  patrons 
of  the  Government,  —  the  railroad  magnates ;  nor  do  we 
know  of  any  reason  why  this  profit  and  property  should 
not  be  possessed  by  the  government,  —  its  creator.  The 
argument,  that  the  people  are  not  competent  to  select  the 
managers  of  these  vast  enterprises,  comes  with  poor  grace 
from  the  classes  who  have  controlled  the  legislative  functions 
of  the  government  since  its  foundation.  But  few  wage- 
workers  or  wage-earners,  by  hand  or  brain,  have  ever  been 
called  into  these  important  positions ;  and  it  is  a  sad  confes- 
sion for  wealth  and  culture  to  make  that  they  dare  not  trust 
their  own  classes  in  the  administration  of  internal  commerce. 
That  the  Post-office  Department  has  been  conducted  measur- 
ably safe  and  prompt,  and  thorough  and  cheap,  is  evidence 
that  other  steps  may  be  taken  in  the  same  direction.  This 
preamble  also  demands  the  abrogation  of  all  laws  that  do  not 
bear  equally  upon  capital  and  labor,  and  the  removal  of  un- 
just technicalities,  delays  and  discriminations  in  the  adminis- 
trations of  justice.  All  well-meaning  people  sustain  this 
demand  of  the  organization ;  but  the  question  comes :  Do 
the  laws  that  we  have  tend  to  bear  equally  upon  capital 
and  labor?  And  the  answer  to  this  query  would  in  itself 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

necessitate  a  chapter;  for  the  vast  tomes  in  the  National 
and  State  capitols  show  that  the  great  bulk  of  legislation 
has  been  directly  in  the  nterest  of  capita  or  investment ; 
and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  legislation  has  been 
founded  upon  the  theory  that,  "if  you  protect  capital,  capi- 
tal will  protect  labor."  For  the  past  half-century,  the  statute- 
books  are  but  the  records  of  the  demands  of  capital  for  the 
advancement  of  proprietary  interests.  Tariffs  have  been  es- 
tablished, subsidies  granted,  and  special  privileges  accorded, 
that  individual  stockholders  might  have  the  fullest  opportu- 
nities of  accumulation.  The  burdens  thus  imposed  upon  the 
common  people  have  been  borne  by  them  ;  for  they  are  the 
tax-payers,  —  paying  interest  and  taxes  on  all  things  consumed 
by  them,  as  well  as  furnishing  the  incomes  of  all  middle-men, 
and  by  the  defense  of  property  in  time  of  war.  Many  of  the 
laws  thus  enacted  bear  heavily  upon  the  laborer ;  and  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  as  an  organized  expression  of  the  will 
of  the  people,  demand  their  abrogation.  So,  too,  in  the 
administration  of  law  or  the  judiciary  of  the  Republic.  The 
courts  are  open  to  the  humblest ;  but  the  power  of  capital 
comes  to  the  court-room,  in  spite  (if  need  be)  of  judge  and 
jury,  and  makes  the  administration  of  justice  impracticable 
and  often  impossible.  Delays  in  trials,  inability,  because  of 
poverty,  to  procure  witnesses  and  learned  counsel,  make  it 
often  better  for  the  poor  man  to  suffer  "  the  ills  he  has  rather 
than  to  fly  to  others  he  knows  not  of." 

Recent  decisions  of  judges  upon  the  question  of  conspiracy 
and  boycotting  are  new  revelations  of  an  old  fact,  that  the 
interpretation  of  law  rests  largely  upon  the  public  sentiment 
of  the  wealthy  part  of  the  community.  The  Dred-Scott  deci- 
sion was  declared  infamous  by  those  who  were  lifted  to  the 
level  of  the  spirit  of  our  institutions ;  yet,  nevertheless,  that 
decision  was  a  confession  that  the  controlling  classes  were 
under  the  subtle  influence  of  the  slave-power.  The  continued 
peaceful  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  uninterrupted  by  war, 
would  have  rendered  such  a  decision  impossible ;  so,  too,  the 
attempts  now  made  to  prevent  the  working  people  from  using 
the  great  power  of  the  boycott  will  be  found  to  be  in  contra- 


LEGALITY  OF  THE  BOYCOTT.  489 

diction,  not  only  of  individual,  but  of  constitutional  rights. 
A  man  has  not  only  the  right  to  buy  where  he  pleases,  but  he 
has  the  right  to  advise  another  man  to  buy  or  not  to  buy  of 
friend  or  enemy  ;  and  whether  the  exercise  of  the  boycott  is 
judicious  or  injudicious,  justifiable  or  unjustifiable  in  certain 
instances,  the  innate  right  of  man  to  the  privilege  of  exercis- 
ing his  moral  power  and  social  influence  in  the  direction  of 
trade,  or  to  withhold  trade,  cannot  be  safely  denied. 

Chief-Justice  Shaw,  in  his  decision  of  the  celebrated  case 
of  the  Common-wealth  vs.  Hunt  et  als.,  as  given  on  page  95, 
says  :  "Associations  may  be  entered  into,  the  object  of  which 
is  to  adopt  measures  that  may  have  a  tendency  to  impoverish 
another, thus  to  diminish  his  gain  or  profits,  and  yet  so  far 
from  being  criminal  or  unlawful,  the  object  may  be  highly 
meritorious  and  public-spirited." 

The  denunciation  of  the  boycott  comes  with  ill  grace  from 
a  class  who  have  ever  exercised  the  infamous  power  of  the 
blacklist  against  their  workmen  for  no  palpable  cause.  The 
history  of  the  labor  movement  is  a  continued  chapter  of  the 
boycotting  of  members  of  committees  and  leaders  of  labor 
organizations.  T.  V.  Powderly,  the  General  Master  Work- 
man of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  was  thus  blacklisted.  As  a 
rule,  the  efforts  to  crush  the  life  out  of  trades-unions  and 
other  associations  have  produced  the  opposite  result.  Men 
and  women,  thus  driven  from  their  homes,  have  been  the 
unpaid  messengers  of  the  Gospel  of  organized  efforts.  The 
great  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  founded  largely 
because  of  the  employers'  system  of  boycotting. 

Many  of  the  measures  of  relief  included  in  the  preamble 
have  already  so  far  commended  themselves  to  the  public  as  to 
have  forced  legislative  acquiescence  in  some  of  the  States. 
Among  these  measures  may  be  mentioned  laws  providing 
for  the  life  and  safety  of  those  engaged  in  mining,  manufac- 
turing and  building  industries.  Factory  and  mine-inspectors 
have  been  appointed,  and  protection  against  fire  and  against 
accidents  by  uncovered  belting  and  dangerous  machinery 
has  been  provided.  Trades-unions  have  been  incorporated, 
weekly  payments  in  lawful  money  have  beer  gained  for  the 


49°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

employees  of  corporations  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and 
must  soon  be  conceded  by  all  employers  of  labor.  The 
truck,  or  "pluck-me"  system  of  payment,  still  prevalent  in 
many  States  and  Territories,  and  especially  among  miners, 
has  secured  legislative  attention,  and  must  soon  give  way  to 
the  frequent  payment  of  wages  in  lawful  money.  The  old- 
time  system  of  payment,  in  goods  instead  of  in  cash,  is  a  relic 
of  the  chattel-system. 

The  demand  for  an  employers'  liability  law  will  still  con- 
tinue to  trouble  the  legislators,  and  should  trouble  them,  that 
the  scandal  may  no  longer  continue  that  a  man  is  pensioned 
for  wounds  received  in  the  destruction  of  property  and  life, 
but  must  be  pauperized  when  receiving  injuries  in  the  peace- 
ful pursuits  of  life. 

The  preamble  demands  the  abolition  of  the  contract  system 
on  National,  State,  and  municipal  works.  Under  the  contract 
system,  two  monster  evils  have  come  into  existence  :  one,  the 
mammoth  robbery  of  the  treasury ;  the  other,  the  mammoth 
robbery  of  the  workers.  This  system,  as  conducted  on  the 
aqueduct-works  of  New  York  city,  and  exposed  by  the  New 
York  Sun,  render  argument  useless,  when  we  know  that  this 
is  not  an  individual  instance  of  the  oppression  of  the  poor 
by  the  contract  system,  but  is  only  one  of  the  numberless 
instances  of  the  same  iniquitous  system. 

The  demand  for  laws  providing  for  arbitration  between  em- 
ployers and  employees  has  been  conceded  in  some  instances, 
as  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  the  Chapter  on  Legislation  ;  but 
the  value  of  this  system  of  settling  disputes  between  the  two 
classes  is  very  much  weakened,  not  by  the  decisions  of  the 
arbitrators,  but  from  the  many  failures  of  the  employing  class 
to  keep  faith  with  their  employees. 

Constant  approaches  are  being  made  in  the  direction  of 
prohibition  of  the  employment  of  children  under  fifteen  years 
of  age  in  the  workshops,  mercantile  establishments,  mines  and 
factories.  But  this  movement  is  altogether  too  slow.  Children 
are  being  employed  at  eight  years  of  age  and  upwards  in 
the  workshops,  mines  and  factories.  In  some  States,  the  law 
fixes  the  limit  of  years  at  ten,  —  some  at  eleven  and  twelve. 


HEARTLESS    TASK-MASTERS. 


491 


And  yet  these  little  ones  are  found  in  our  manufacturing 
centres  as  well  as  in  the  mining  and  coke  regions,  dragging 
their  weary  bodies  to  unwelcome  work  in  unseasonable  hours, 
in  heat  and  cold,  denied.the  pleasures  of  the  play-ground  and 
the  benefits  of  the  school-room,  robbed  of  all  the  educational 
influences  of  home,  rendered  desperate  and  ungovernable,  and 
made  old  before  their  time.  The  Knights  of  Labor,  worthy 
of  the  loftiest  chivalry  of  the  nineteenth  century,  demand 
that  this  shall  not  be,  but  that  the  place  for  the  child  is  at  the 
home,  in  the  school-room,  and  upon  the  play-ground,  and  that 
when  the  child  enters  the  mill  as  a  child  to  help  eke  out  the 
miserable  pittance  of  the  family  earnings,  he  or  she  enters  as 
a  competitor  against  the  older  brother  and  the  father,  reduc- 
ing their  wages  so  that  the  grand  total  of  the  family  earnings 
shall  be  but  bare  enough  for  the  family's  existence.  Civiliza- 
tion is  drunk  with  greed,  when  it  drags  the  child  from  the  en- 
joyment of  childhood,  and  makes  him  a  bread-earner,  when  he 
should  be  merely  a  bread-eater.  The  republican  institutions 
are  not  safe  under  such  conditions.  In  the  days  of  old,  when 
the  child  worked  with  the  father  and  the  mother  on  the  farm 
or  the  homestead  in  the  healthful  pursuits  of  agriculture,  men 
and  women  could  be  grown  worthy  of  the  age.  But  factory 
discipline,  however  kindly  it  may  be  administered,  is  not  the 
discipline  for  childhood.  We  are  demanding  that  the  disci- 
pline of  the  school-room  shall  be  relaxed  for  the  younger  chil- 
dren, and  that  the  hours  of  school-time  shall  be  reduced. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  demand  for  the  children  of  the 
unfortunate  all  that  shall  be  demanded  for  the  most  for- 
tunate. 

The  hiring  out  of  convict  labor,  and  the  whole  system  of 
convict  labor,  needs  remedy.  The  preamble  emphatically 
demands  the  prohibition  of  the  hiring-out  system,  and  this 
prohibition  is  demanded  in  the  name  of  justice  to  labor.  The 
convict  is  restrained  from  liberty  as  a  punishment  for  criminal 
acts  done,  and  as  a  restraint  or  prote9tion  against  his  opportu- 
nity of  committing  other  crimes.  That  the  health  and  discipline 
of  the  convict  demands  his  employment,  no  one  denies  ;  but 
all  organized  laborers  protest  emphatically  against  his  enter- 


492  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ing  the  market  as  a  competitor  with  them.  The  convict  is  a 
slave, — the  slave  of  the  government,  —  and  his  labor  is  slave- 
labor  ;  he  having  no  control  over  the  price  or  quantity,  or  his 
freedom  of  action.  The  defence  of  the  present  system,  on 
the  plea  that  the  product  of  this  labor  is  such  a  small  amount 
as  not  to  become  a  factor  in  the  wage-market  has  little  force. 
Ira  Steward  once  said  that  wages,  like  water,  always  seek  the 
lowest  outlet.  If  a  case  of  convict-made  shoes  can  be  sold 
for  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  than  free-made  shoes,  the  convict- 
made  shoes  tend  to  the  reduction  of  the  selling-price  of  the 
free-made  article,  if  of  nearly  the  same  quality.  Organized 
labor  does  not  attempt  to  prohibit  labor  in  the  prisons  and 
other  correctional  institutions ;  it  only  asks  that  this  labor 
shall  be  organized  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  become  a  competi- 
tor. Therefore,  they  demand  the  abolition  of  the  contract  or 
hiring-out  system.  The  convict  may  well  be  employed  at 
hand  labor  in  the  manufacture  of  such  products  as  are  needed 
in  the  correctional,  reformatory,  and  charitable  institutions ; 
by  being  compelled  to  work  without  the  use  of  labor-saving 
machinery,  they  become  better  accustomed  to  the  handling  of 
tools.  They  would  then  become  more  interested  in  their  work  ; 
above  all,  they  would  be  released  from  the  enervating  and 
demoralizing  tendencies  of  monotonous  labor.  The  free 
workman  engaged  upon  machinery,  constantly  repeating  his 
part  of  the  work,  suffers  morally  and  physically,  but  is  re- 
lieved somewhat  from  the  evil  effects  of  the  system  by  the 
social  intercourse,  and  by  the  opportunities  of  leisure  and 
change  of  scene.  Monotonous  labor  within  prison-walls  is  in 
itself  a  punishment  greater  than  should  be  inflicted  upon  any 
man.  The  statistics  of  convict-life  give  evidence  of  the  need 
of  a  reform  that  goes  to  the  root  of  the  difficulty.  That  they 
are  not  graduated  first-class  mechanics  or  first-class  men  is 
not  a  surprise.  As  a  rule,  they  graduate  poor  mechanics  as 
well  as  poor  men.  The  measures  hereinbefore  enumerated 
as  a  part  of  the  preamble  under  consideration  have  been  uni- 
formly demanded  by  all  branches  of  organized  toil.  The 
next  demand  is  of  a  more  radical  nature,  although  finding 
many  advocates  outside  of  the  wage-labor  class. 


THE    QUESTION    OF    TAXATION.  493 

The  question  of  taxation  is  one  that  constantly  demands  the 
attention  of  all  organized  bodies  of  men.  The  question  of 
"What  shall  be  taxed,  and  how  much?"  sometimes  creates, 
sometimes  divides,  and  sometimes  destroys  parties.  If  gov- 
ernments have  any  rights,  they  have  the  right  to  tax  prop- 
erty to  any  extent  that  their  necessities  may  require. 
Policy  demands  that  this  tax  shall  not  be  such  a  burden 
upon  enterprise  as  to  compel  stagnation.  The  theory  of 
taxation  has  been  largely  in  the  direction  of  obtaining  the 
revenue  of  the  government  from  those  articles  of  least  impor- 
tance to  the  community  at  large.  It  is  safer  to  tax  the  sur- 
pluses than  the  necessities  of  society.  Wines,  spirits,  cigars 
and  other  luxuries  are  taxed  on  the  theory  that  civilization 
can  continue  without  their  consumption.  Upon  this  theory 
and  fact,  the  Knights  of  Labor  ask  that  a  graduated  income 
tax  be  levied ;  in  other  words,  they  ask  that  the  surpluses  of 
past  accumulations  be  taxed  out  of  existence ;  that  small 
enterprises  and  property-holders  be  practically  exempt,  while 
the  mammoth  fortunes  from  the  investment  of  incomes  be 
taxed  in  increasing  ratio  to  their  amounts.  This  is  considered 
by  some  as  agrarian  legislation  ;  and  yet,  as  will  be  noted, 
it  is  not  the  taxation  of  a  necessity,  but  the  taxation  of  a  kind 
of  luxury  that  threatens  the  existence  of  the  Republic, — the 
luxury  of  a  monopoly. 

The  Knights  of  Labor,  in  common  with  the  old  National 
Labor  party,  deal  not  only  with  the  question  of  industrial 
reform,  but  place  two  planks  in  their  platform  of  principles 
bearing  upon  the  question  of  finance.  This  work  has  been 
devoted  wholly  to  the  consideration  of  the  question  of  the 
industrial  movement  and  industrial  reform.  The  question 
of  finance  in  itself  has  found  many  powerful  writers  of  pro- 
nounced views.  The  space  of  this  article  will  not  warrant  any 
discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  different  systems.  The  de- 
mand of  the  Knights  in  this  direction  is  patriotic,  and  mea- 
surably practicable.  National  banks  and  bankers  have  little 
favor  with  the  Knights  of  Labor.  The  present  system  of 
filtering  the  national  currency  through  the  national-bank 
sieve  to  the  profit  of  the  banker,  and  the  loss  to  the  people, 


494 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


has  few  friends  in  this  organization.  They  demand  "  a  na- 
tional monetary-system,  in  which  the  circulating  medium, 
in  necessary  quantity,  shall  issue  direct  to  the  people,  without 
the  intervention  of  banks,  and  that  all  the  national  issue  shall 
be  full  legal-tender  in  payment  of  all  debts,  public  and  pri- 
vate, and  that  the  government  shall  not  guarantee  or  recog- 
nize any  private  banks  of  credit,  or  any  banking  corporations, 
that  interest-bearing  bonds,  bills  of  credit  or  notes  shall  not 
be  issued  by  the  government,  and  that  when  any  emergency 
shall  arise,  shall  issue  a  non-interest-bearing  money."  As  the 
national  banks  are  founded  upon  the  national  debt,  wisdom 
demands,  and  statesmanship  should  provide,  some  method  by 
which  the  bills  and  coin  should  serve  their  purpose  without 
giving  power  to  chartered  corporations  to  interfere  with  the 
control  of  the  currency,  or  to  receive  undue  payment  for  any 
service  rendered.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  people  can  re- 
ceive printed  national  legal-tender  notes  for  the  asking.  But 
that  some  system  can  be  devised,  better  than  the  present,  and 
more  in  accord  with  our  republican  institutions,  is  believed  by 
many,  not  only  within,  but  without  the  organization. 

That  the  demand  for  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
foreign  labor  under  contract  is  a  just  one,  is  now  con- 
fessed ;  but,  though  "  confession "  may  be  "  good  for  the 
soul,"  the  reiteration  of  the  sentiments  against  this  impor- 
tation will  not  restrain  unscrupulous  contractors  and  employers 
from  bringing  into  the  country,  from  the  most  pauperized  and 
degraded  of  the  human  race,  laborers  contracted  for  under 
misrepresentation  of  facts  and  conditions,  and  bringing  them 
here  as  enemies  to  our  high-wage  civilization.  This  requires 
not  only  legislation,  but  enforcement;  and  such  enforcement 
as  shall  absolutely  protect  the  American  wage-worker  from 
this  danger.  And  it  is  even  a  question  if  legislation  will  not 
be  demanded  by  other  than  wage-workers  to  prohibit,  for  a 
time  at  least,  the  importation  of  the  cheaper  class  of  laborers, 
whether  under  a  contract  or  not.  If  protective  tariffs  can  be 
advocated  as  a  means  to  uphold  the  wages  of  American 
labor,  whether  truly  made  or  not,  labor  and  all  lovers  of  re- 
publican institutions  have  the  right  to  demand  that  this  artifi- 


LEADERS   OF    THE   KNIGHTS. 


SHALL  CORPORATIONS  CONTROL  GOVERNMENT?   495 

cially  stimulated  immigration,  largely  consequent  upon  the 
misrepresentations  of  the  protectionists  themselves,  shall  be 
absolutely  prohibited.  The  defence  of  such  a  course  must 
be  founded  upon  the  right  of  self-protection  belonging  to 
classes  and  communities  and  governments.  To  enact  such 
legislation  is  a  confession  of  the  failure  of  our  statesmen  to 
anticipate  societary  effects  from  societary  causes.  As  the 
physical  man  is  strengthened  by  what  is  digested  rather  than 
by  that  which  is  consumed  and  undigested,  so  nations  grow 
in  strength  as  fast  as  the  immigration  from  other  lands  is 
assimilated  to  the  native  institutions.  The  necessity  for  im- 
mediate attention  to  the  prohibition  of  Chinese  labor  is  set 
forth  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  that  subject.  As  the  first  sen- 
tence of  the  preamble  calls  attention  to  the  alarmkig  develop- 
ment and  aggressiveness  of  great  capitalists  and  corporations, 
so  the  last  demand  upon  the  government  refers  to  the  same 
question,  and  demands  of  the  government  the. possession,  by 
purchase  under  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  of  telegraphs, 
telephones  and  railroads. 

In  the  days  of  the  struggles  of  the  abolitionists,  propositions 
were  made  for  the  purchase  of  the  slaves  by  the  government, 
and  then  their  emancipation  ;  so  now  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
witnessing,  as  we  have  described,  the  power  of  these  corpora- 
tions over  the  government,  and  over  their  employees,  equalled 
only  by  the  power  of  the  Czar,  propose  their  purchase, — not 
their  seizure,  but  their  purchase  and  control ;  and  the  ques- 
tion will  soon  force  itself  upon  the  republican  citizens  in  this 
form  :  "Shall  these  great  corporations  control  the  government, 
or  shall  they  be  controlled  by  the  government?"  The  terrible 
condition  of  servitude  into  which  the  employees  of  these  vast 
enterprises  have  been  forced,  and  the  endangering  of  the 
public  peace,  caused  by  the  natural  and  proper  unrest  of  the 
wage-workers,  as  well  as  the  danger  to  traffic  and  the 
numberless  industries  dependent  upon  uninterrupted  trans- 
portation and  communication,  is  the  warning-cry  that  justice 
must  be  done  to  the  poorest,  and  that  this  justice  cannot  be 
expected  under  the  present  system  of  greed.  The  control  of 
railroads,  telephones  and  telegraphs,  and  their  operation  by 


496  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  government,  is  as  feasible,  and  will  prove  to  be  as  bene- 
ficial, as  the  present  post-office  system,  which,  perfect  as  it  is, 
needs  enlargement  in  the  direction  of  making  them  safe 
deposits,  as  is  the  system  in  England. 

In  addition  to  the  demands  made  upon  the  State  and 
National  governments,  hereinbefore  enumerated,  this  organi- 
zation proposes  to  its  members  to  associate  their  own  labors 
for  the  establishment  of  co-operative  institutions,  believing 
that  through  experiments  in  this  direction,  and  that  by  re- 
duced profits  upon  labor  and  increased  remuneration  to 
labor,  consequent  upon  advancing  civilization,  that  the  co- 
operative system  will  supersede  the  wage-system.  They 
also  pledge  themselves  to  secure  for  both  sexes  equal  pay 
for  equal  work,  and  supplement  their  demand  for  legisla- 
tion in  the  direction  of  less  hours  of  labor  by  instructing  their 
members  to  prepare  for  a  general  refusal  to  work  for  more 
than  eight  hours  per  day. 

This  preamble,  which  commences  with  the  warning-cry 
against  the  power  for  evil  of  great  corporations  and 
capitalists,  concludes  by  holding  out  the  olive  branch  of 
peace,  desiring  that  no  unnecessary  antagonisms  may  be 
created,  —  using  the  power  of  organization  not  to  force,  but  to 
"persuade  employers  to  agree  to  arbitrate  all  differences 
which  may  arise  between  them  and  their  employees,  in 
order  that  the  bonds  of  sympathy  between  them  may  be 
strengthened,  and  strikes  may  be  unnecessary." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ARBITRATION. 

DISASTROUS  STRIKES  —  LOSSES  AND  CONSEQUENCES  THEREOF  —  DEALING 
WITH  HUMAN  BEINGS  —  WORKMEN  FAVORING  ARBITRATION  —  EMPLOY- 
ERS IGNORING  THE  HUMANITIES  OF  LIFE  —  DISCUSSING  DIFFERENCES — • 
OPINIONS  OF  GEORGE  ODGER,  PROFESSOR  S.  WATERHOUSE,  PROFESSOR 
J.  B.  CLARK,  PROFESSOR  HENRY  C.  ADAMS,  PROFESSOR  E.  J.  JAMES, 
JOHN  JARRETT,  D.  H.  DONELLY,  CONSEILS  DBS  PRUD'HOMMES  —  ARBI- 
TRATION ix  BELGIUM,  AUSTRIA,  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN,  AND  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  —  ARBITRATION  LAW  OF  THE  LAST  CONGRESS  —  THE: 
LABOR  PARLIAMENT  —  ORGANIZATION  ESSENTIAL  TO  ARBITRATION. 

"  Come  now,  let  us  reason  together."  —  Isa.  \  :  18. 

A  FEW  months  ago,  dense  clouds  lowered  upon  the  fields 
of  industry.  Disastrous  strikes  then  prevailed  through- 
out the  South-west,  threatening  at  one  time  to  involve  the 
entire  railroad  system  of  the  United  States,  —  a  misfortune 
which  was  alone  prevented  by  the  good  judgment  and  firm- 
ness of  the  leaders  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  Locomotive 
Engineers  ;  while,  during  the  same  period,  other  strikes  were 
pending,  involving  thousands  and  thousands  of  workingmen 
in  various  factories  and  workshops.  These  have  all  passed 
away,  and  to-day  witnesses  comparative  peace  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  At  such  a  time,  it  is 
peculiarly  opportune  to  appeal  to  the  intelligence  of  the  coun- 
try,— workingmen  and  employers  alike, — to  devise  some 
better  plan  of  adjusting  differences  than  by  strikes  on  the 
one  hand  and  lockouts  on  the  other,  with  their  concomitant 
train  of  disaster,  ruin,  and  frequently  crime. 

The  losses  sustained  by  workmen  and  employers,  together 
with  incidental  injuries  to  the  people  at  large,  in  the  disastrous 
conflicts  of  the  last  few  years,  would  present  a  frightful  spec- 
tacle of  the  absolute  waste  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars. 
For  while  the  loss  of  the  strikers  from  their  enforced  idleness, 

(497)  (32) 


498  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  the  loss  to  employers  from  injury  to  property  and  the 
unproductiveness  of  their  investments,  amounts  to  millions 
of  dollars,  the  greater  loss  is  borne  by  the  entire  country  from 
the  loss  of  the  wealth  produced  by  employed  labor,  from  the 
increased  cost  of  all  articles  involved  in  the  controversy,  and, 
in  case  of  a  railroad  strike,  from  the  increased  cost  of  fuel 
arid  food  to  the  people,  from  the  difficulty  and  delay  in  ob- 
taining supplies ;  resulting,  also,  in  the  enforced  closing  of 
workshops  and  factories,  through  the  inability  of  employers 
to  obtain  necessary  materials,  thus  swelling  the  ranks  of 
those  thrown  out  of  employment  by  additional  thousands, 
who  are  in  such  cases  the  unfortunate  victims  of  a  contro- 
versy in  which  they  are  not  directly  interested. 

These  reasons  justify  every  citizen  in  carefully  studying  the 
question  of  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor,  and  endeavoring 
to  bring  them  together  as  friends  and  allies  by  guaranteeing 
that  peace  and  prosperity  which  flows  from  continued  in- 
dustry. Is  it  not  the  part  of  every  good  citizen  in  all  disputes 
to  advise  their  fellow-men,  whether  workmen  or  capitalists, 
to  come  together  and  reason  like  men?  —  to  meet  at  the  same 
table  for  a  mutual  interchange  of  views,  —  an  honest  and 
frank  statement  of  his  grievances  by  the  workman,  and  an 
equally  manly  and  honorable  consideration,  and,  when  neces- 
sary, concession  by  the  capitalist  ? 

Employers  must  understand  by  this  time  that,  in  dealing 
with  human  beings,  they  cannot  successfully  apply  the  rule 
that  the  only  thing  necessary  to  be  considered,  when  en- 
gaging in  any  enterprise,  is  to  ascertain  how  great  they  can 
make  their  profits,  and  how  low  they  can  make  the  wages. 
If  the  promptings  of  humanity  will  not  induce  them  to  act 
fairly  and  honorably  by  their  workmen,  the  disastrous  experi- 
ences of  strikes  should  by  this  time,  at  least,  have  been 
sufficient  to  convince  them  that  from  a  purely  selfish  stand- 
point they  can  accomplish  far  more  and  achieve  greater  suc- 
cess by  pursuing  such  a  course  as  will  prevent  strikes,  and 
enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  workman  in  the  success  of  his 
employer,  —  adopting  the  humane  maxim,  to  "live  and  let 
live." 


ARBITRATION    AND    CONCILIATION.  499 

Workmen,  as' a  rule,  have  always  favored  arbitration,  and 
the  submission  of  their  differences  to  an  impartial  tribunal ; 
and  history  shows  that,  in  almost  every  instance  where  they 
have  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  impartial  hearing  of  their 
grievances,  they  have  loyally  and  honorably  abided  by  the 
result.  Employers,  as  a  rule,  have  been  slow  in  recognizing 
the  right  of  workingmen  to  even  a  hearing, — ignoring  the 
humanities  of  life,  and  placing  workmen  on  the  same  footing 
with  their  merchandise.  Such  a  position,  whenever  a  dispute 
occurs,  has  invariably  resulted  in  a  conflict,  for  the  reason 
that  workingmen  will  not  submit  to  being  ignored  by  an  en- 
terprise in  which  they  believe  that  their  labor  and  genius 
are  as  much  the  mainsprings  of  its  success  as  the  capital 
invested. 

It  is  the  same  old  story,  repeated  with  slight  variations,  since 
civilization  began,  of  the  weak  fighting  the  strong.  In  many 
cases,  the  weak  may  win  by  persistence  in  suffering;  but,  in 
the  meantime,  men  and  women  will  go  hungry,  and  children 
will  cry  for  bread.  This  continual  clashing,  involving  so 
much  suffering  and  loss  of  money,  is  unavoidable,  unless  both 
parties  seek  for  and  adopt  a  better  system  of  adjusting  differ- 
ences. That  such  a  system  can  be  found  in  arbitration,  based 
on  principles  of  equity  between  employer  and  workman,  has 
been  amply  shown  in  individual  shops,  and  in  whole  com- 
munities in  the  Old  World.  So  far  as  it  has  been  tried  in  this 
country,  it  has  proved  far  superior  to  any  other  method  of 
settling  differences.  In  no  other  way  can  the  correlative  in- 
terests of  both  labor  and  capital  be  so  effectively  guarded. 

The  principle  of  appealing  to  facts  and  reason,  instead  of 
to  brute  force,  is  rational,  and  at  once  commends  itself  to  the 
judgment  of  every  right-minded  man.  When  workmen  and 
employers  meet  together  and  discuss  their  differences  and  try 
to  adjust  them,  they  give  evidence  of  the  nobler  qualities  of 
their  manhood. 

Strikes  and  lockouts  are  characteristics  of  the  Feudal  Age, 
when  might  was  right,  and  every  dispute  was  settled  by  a 
resort  to  force.  Arbitration  will  be  characteristic  of  the  age 
of  reason  and  law. 


5OO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

George  Odger,  in  1866,  at  a  large  meeting  in  Sheffield, 
England,  expressed  the  opinion  "that  strikes  were  in  the 
social  world  what  wars  were  to  the  political  world :  they 
became  crimes,  unless  they  were  prompted  by  absolute  neces- 
sity." When  men  of  labor  and  capital  meet  together  as  men 
of  business  should  meet,  and  discuss  their  differences  in  a 
friendly  spirit,  the  chances  are  that  they  will  reach  an  ami- 
cable settlement.  Their  success  runs  in  parallel  lines.  Their 
interests  are  identical.  Labor  is  capital,  and  capital  is  labor. 
They  suggest  the  remedy  for  the  conflict, — the  remedy  that 
civilized  nations  are  now  substituting  for  war ;  the  influence 
of  reason  and  voluntary  arbitration  of  labor's  troubles  and 
capital's  claims  trusting  to  the  enlightened  public  opinion  to 
sustain  their  awards.  Arbitration  means  education,  and  edu- 
cation means  a  proper  maintenance  of  just  principles.  Edu- 
cation, arbitration  and  humanity  are  the  triple  link  which 
will  unite  labor  and  capital. 

The  utterances  of  prominent  men  on  the  subject  of  arbitra- 
tion, which  I  append,  are  evidence  that  the  demand  for  arbi- 
tration must  be  conceded. 

Professor  S.  Waterhouse,  of  the  Washington  University, 
St.  Louis,  says  of  arbitration,  that 

It  would  settle  disputes  by  the  awards  of  reason,  allay  the  unfriendly- 
feelings  which  now  exist  between  workmen  and  their  employers,  save  the 
time  and  money  which  are  now  wasted  by  the  arbitrary  closing  of  manufac- 
tories or  the  ill-advised  withdrawal  of  operatives,  and  prevent  the  scenes  of 
violence  and  outrage  which  so  often  disgrace  strikes. 

Professor  J.  B.  Clark,  Smith  College,  Northampton,  Mass., 
says : — 

Arbitration  is,  in  itself,  an  appeal  to  equity,  and  a  departure  from  the  com- 
petitive principle. 

Professor  Henry  C.  Adams,  Lecturer  on  Political  Economy 
in  the  University  of  Michigan  and  Cornell  University,  says  :  — 

Arbitration  is  not  the  missing  coupling  between  labor  and  capital,  but  it  is 
the  thing  for  which,  at  the  present  time,  it  is  practical  that  workingmen  should 
strive.  Its  establishment  is  the  first  step  towards  the  overthrow  of  the  wages 
system. 


OPINIONS    OF   EMINENT    MEN.  5OI 

Professor  E.  J.  James,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
(Philadelphia),  says:  — 

Arbitration  has  the  great  advantage  of  subjecting  the  acts  of  the  parties  to 
it  to  the  efficient  and  powerful  control  of  an  energetic  public  opinion.  It 
recognizes  indirectly  what  is  too  often  overlooked, — that  the  interests  at  stake 
are  not  merely  those  of  the  laborer  and  employer,  but  also  those  of  the  com- 
munity at  large.  The  latter  has  such  a  great  stake  in  the  contest  that  it  can- 
not afford  to  stand  idly  by,  and  permit  the  former  to  disturb  society  to  its 
foundations,  and  destroy  in  their  struggle  the  very  conditions  of  sound 
economic  progress. 

P.  H.  Donnelly,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Illinois  Miners* 
Protective  Association,  says  :  — 

Arbitration  means  a  stop  to  those  prolonged  and  ruinous  struggles  between 
employers  and  employees,  —  a  shaking  of  hands  across  the  bloody  chasm. 

Fred  Woodrow  says  :  — 

To-day  there  is  no  question,  even  in  national  politics,  so  vital  in  its  import 
or  so  grand  in  its  issues  as  this  self-same  idea  of  arbitration.  It  is  at  the  causes 
of  strikes  and  lockouts  as  an  axe  at  the  root  of  a  tree,  and  a  knife  at  a  cancer. 
Of  its  adoption  there  is  no  doubt,  though  its  details  and  methods  may  be  mat- 
ters of  experience  and  time.  It  has  its  enemies,  as  had  the  act  of  eman- 
cipation. 

John  Jarrett,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  American  Tinned-Plate 
Association,  says :  — 

I  know  of  no  better  remedy,  in  the  adjustment  of  all  differences  that  may 
arise  between  employers  and  employees,  than  arbitration  and  conciliation. 

Hon.  E.  R.  Hutchins,  Commissioner  of  Labor  Statistics, 
State  of  Iowa,  says  :  — 

Wherever  it  is  tried  honestly,  it  is  successful. 

This  is  true  in  this  and  in  the  old  countries.  But  it  must  be 
honest.  It  must  be  entered  into  with  sincerity  on  the  part  of 
both  sides,  and  its  results  must  be  as  binding  as  any  law 
upon  a  statute-book. 

Hon.  Joel  B.  McCamant,  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Industrial 
Statistics,  State  of  Pennsylvania,  says:  — 

Arbitration,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  only  reasonable  coupling  between  labor 
and  capital. 


5O2  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Hon.  Oscar  Kochtitzky,  Commissioner  of  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  and  Inspection,  of  Missouri,  says:  — 

A  Board  of  Arbitration,  composed  of  persons  capable  to  judge  clearly 
between  right  and  wrong,  possessing  in  every  respect  the  confidence  of  the 
community,  and  who  are  not  directly  interested  in  the  dispute  to  be  settled, 
would,  in  nearly  every  case,  present  a  plan  of  settlement  acceptable  to  both 
parties.  Any  proposition  made  by  a  board  so  composed  would  be  supported 
by  the  moral  force  of  public  opinion ;  and  the  refusal  by  either  party  to  the 
dispute  to  accept  the  plan  of  settlement  proposed  could  only  be  fatal  to  the 
interests  of  the  party  so  refusing. 

Industrial  arbitration  originated  in  France,  in  1806,  when 
the  first  Napoleon,  at  the  request  of  the  workingmen  of 
Lyons,  caused  the  creation,  by  law,  of  boards  of  arbitration 
and  conciliation.  These,  with  but  slight  changes,  have  con- 
tinued until  the  present  time  under  the  title  of  "Conseils  des 
Prud'hommes."  They  are  judicial  tribunals,  established  at  the 
important  trade-centres  of  that  country,  and  are  composed  of 
an  equal  number  of  employers  and  workingmen,  each  class 
electing  its  own  representatives,  and  the  president  and  vice- 
president  are  named  by  the  government.  Their  authority 
extends  to  all  questions  that  can  arise  in  the  workshop 
between  the  employer  and  his  workmen,  and  also  between 
the  workmen  and  apprentices  or  foreman.  Arbitration  is 
compulsory  upon  the  application  of  either  party,  and  the 
decisions  of  the  board  can  be  enforced  the  same  as  those 
of  other  courts  of  law.  There  are  now  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  such  councils  established  in  France,  and  of  the  many 
thousands  of  cases  brought  before  these  courts  it  is  claimed 
that  ninety-five  per  cent,  have  been  settled.  The  influence 
of  these  councils  in  removing  causes  of  difference,  and  pre- 
venting disputes,  has  been  of  incalculable  benefit,  and  greatly 
contributed  to  the  industrial  prosperity  of  France. 

In  Belgium,  the  French  system  is  adopted,  and  under  the 
same  name,  with  the  exception  that  the  Belgian  "  Conseils 
des  Prud'hommes"  have  a  criminal  jurisdiction,  which  has 
seriously  impeded  their  usefulness. 

In  Austria,  in  1859,  arbitration  courts  were  established  in 
every  important  town  and  district.  The  jurisdiction  of  the 
arbitration  courts  extends  to  the  usual  subjects  of  dispute  be- 


FRUITS    OF    CONCILIATION.  503 

tween  employers  and  workmen,  and  their  awards  have  the 
force  and  effect  of  judgments  of  courts  of  law. 

In  Great  Britain,  a  law  similar  in  its  character  to  that  of 
France  was  placed  on  the  statute-books  in  1824  ;  but  its  com- 
pulsory features  were  so  obnoxious  to  both  employers  and 
workingmen  that  very  little  was  made  of  its  provisions.  A 
similar  fate  befell  two  subsequent  enactments. 

In  1860,  Mr.  Mundella,  a  member  of  one  of  the  largest 
hosiery  firms  in  England,  conceived  and  put  in  practical 
operation  the  first  attempted  voluntary  arbitration  in  Eng- 
land. The  trade  with  which  he  was  identified  had  been 
severely  injured  by  strikes  and  lockouts.  He  brought 
about  a  conference  between  the  employers  and  workmen, 
which  resulted  in  the  institution  of  the  "  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion and  Conciliation  in  the  Cloth  and  Hosiery  Trade."  Ten 
years  later,  Mr.  Mundella,  reviewing  his  work,  stated  that 

Strikes  are  at  an  end.  Levies  to  sustain  them  are  unknown,  and  one  shil- 
ling a  year  from  each  member  suffices  to  pay  the  expenses.  That  he  had 
inspected  a  balance-sheet  of  a  trades-union  of  10,300  men,  and  found  the 
expenditures  for  thirteen  months  to  amount  to  less  than  £100.  The  success 
of  this  Board  of  Arbitration,  known  as  "the  Nottingham  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion and  Conciliation,"  attracted  public  attention,  and  workingmen  and  em- 
ployers hailed  with  enthusiasm  this  application  of  new  principles  to  industry. 
Three  years  later,  it  was  adopted  by  the  building-trades  (Wolverhampton 
system),  and  at  a  late  period  by  the  iron  trade  (North  of  England  system)  ;  it 
also  extended  to  the  pottery  and  other  industries. 

The  following  statements  will  furnish  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  benefits  arising  from  the  application  of  this  princi- 
ple :  — 

For  thirty  years,  strikes  have  been  almost  unknown  in  the 
pottery  trade.  Since  1869,  when  the  "  Board  of  Arbitration  and 
Conciliation  for  the  Manufactured  Iron  Trade  for  the  North 
of  England"  was  established,  it  has  proved  a  blessing  to  em- 
ployers and  workmen.  Strikes  are  unknown  ;  whereas  prior 
to  that  time,  that  district  was  in  a  continual  state  of  anarchy, 
resulting  from  the  social  struggles  of  labor  and  capital,  fre- 
quently causing  destruction  of  property  and  loss  of  human 
life.  In  an  address  by  Frederick  Harrison  before  the  Trades- 
union  Congress,  at  Nottingham,  in  October,  1883,  he  stated 


504  THE    LABOR    MOVEMKNT. 

that  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  those  societies'  expenditures  were 
for  benevolent  and  provident  purposes,  and  only  one  per  cent. 
for  strikes,  showing  the  great  value  of  trades-unions  in  pre- 
venting trade  disputes.  The  almost  unanimous  voice  of  the 
trades-unions  of  England,  which  to-day  number  over  800,000 
members,  is  for  arbitration  in  industrial  pursuits.  And  it  is  a 
fact,  in  the  history  of  arbitration,  that  the  first  steps  toward 
the  adoption  of  this  method  were  inaugurated  by  the  trades- 
unions. 

In  the  United  States,  the  growth  of  the  principle  of  the 
application  of  arbitration  as  a  means  of  settling  disputes  be- 
tween employers  and  workmen  is  due  mainly  to  the  efforts 
of  this  same  organization,  which  has  at  all  times  strongly 
favored  arbitration.  Over  twenty  years  ago,  arbitration  be- 
came one  of  the  demands  of  the  Trades-union  Congress.  The 
Knights  of  Labor,  who  constitute  to-day  the  greatest  labor- 
union  in  the  country,  have  embodied  in  their  platform  the  fol- 
lowing, among  other  aims  :  — 

22.  "To  persuade  employers  to  agree  to  arbitrate  all  differ- 
ences which  may  arise  between  them  and  their  employees,  in 
order  that  the  bonds  of  sympathy  between  them  may  be 
strengthened,  and  that  strikes  may  be  rendered  unneces- 
sary." 

In  1883,  legal  arbitration  was  first  presented  in  this  country. 
In  that  year,  the  Wallace  Act  was  passed  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature,  and  is  the  first  piece  of  legislation  in  this  country 
practically  indorsing  the  principle  of  voluntary  arbitration. 
In  Ohio,  a  law  was  enacted  in  February,  1885,  to  "authorize 
the  creation  and  to  provide  for  the  operation  of  tribunals  of 
voluntary  arbitration,  to  adjust  industrial  disputes  between 
employers  and  employed."  In  Massachusetts,  Iowa,  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  bills  for  the  creation  of  arbitration 
boards  have  either  become  laws  or  are  now  pending. 

The  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  passed  a  so-called  "labor-arbitration  bill,"  at 
the  present  session,  which  is  now  pending  in  the  Senate. 
Every  reader  of  this  article  understands  the  narrow  field  to 
which  the  Federal  Constitution  restricts  Congress,  and  that 


LABOR    ARBITRATION    BILL    OF    CONGRESS.  505 

many  of  the  most  important  industries,  employing  millions  of 
our  citizens,  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  power  of  legislation 
vested  in  Congress. 

The  narrow  orbit  within  which  Congress  is  compelled  to 
revolve  appears  from  the  first  section  of  this  bill,  which  reads 
as  follows  :  — 

That  whenever  differences  or  controversies  arise  between  railroad  compa- 
nies engaged  in  the  transportation  of  property  or  passengers  between  two  or 
more  States  of  the  United  States,  between  a  Territory  and  State,  within  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States,  or  within  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the 
employees  of  said  railroad  companies,  which  differences  or  controversies  may 
hinder,  impede,  obstruct,  interrupt  or  affect  such  transportation  of  property 
or  passengers,  if  upon  the  written  proposition  of  either  party  to  the  contro- 
versy to  submit  their  differences  to  arbitration,  the  other  party  shall  accept 
the  proposition,  then  and  in  such  event,  the  railroad  company  is  hereby 
authorized  to  select  and  appoint  one  person;  and  such  employee,  or  em- 
ployees, as  the  case  may  be,  to  select  and  appoint  another  person,  and  the 
two  persons  thus  selected  and  appointed  to  select  a  third  person, — all  three 
of  whom  shall  be  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  wholly  impartial  and  dis- 
interested in  respect  to  such  differences  or  controversies.  And  the  three 
persons  thus  selected  and  appointed  shall  be,  and  thev  are  hereby,  created  and 
constituted  a  board  of  arbitration,  with  the  duties,  powers  and  privileges 
hereinafter  set  forth. 


It  is  evident  from  this  section  that  the  occasions  for  appeal 
to  this  species  of  arbitration  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be 
few ;  that  the  subjects  embraced  are  limited  in  number,  and 
that  the  system  of  arbitration  intended  to  be  established  is 
absolutely  voluntary ;  inasmuch  as  both  parties  to  the  differ- 
ences or  controversies  must  concur  before  the  tribunal  can 
begin  to  exist. 

That  it  is  wholly  intended  to  rely  upon  moral  means  to 
enforce  the  awards  rendered  under  the  act,  is  manifest  from 
the  concluding  paragraph  of  the  third  section,  which  reads  as 
follows  :  — 

And  after  concluding  its  investigation,  said  board  (of  arbitration)  shall 
publicly  announce  its  award,  which,  with  the  findings  of  facts  upon  which  it 
is  based,  shall  be  reduced  to  writing,  and  signed  bv  the  arbitrators  concurring 
therein,  and,  together  with  the  testimony  taken  in  the  case,  shall  be  filed  with 
the  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  the  United  States,  who  shall  make  such  award 
public  as  soon  as  the  same  shall  have  been  received  by  him. 


506  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Another  section  of  the  bill  provides  that  the  entire  expense 
of  an  arbitration  conducted  under  this  bill  shall  be  paid  by 
the  United  States,  provided  such  expense  does  not  exceed  one 
thousand  dollars. 

The  bill  is  pre-eminently  conservative,  and  devoid  of  all 
legal  enforcements.  It  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  195  to 
29,  and  manifests  the  good-will  of  the  majority  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  toward  the  class  of  laboring  men  intended 
to  be  included  within  its  provisions,  and  is  an  evidence  that 
the  National  Legislature  is  no  longer  indifferent  to  their 
cause. 

The  disadvantages  under  which  the  wage-earner  is  placed 
in  the  struggle  for  subsistence  is  well  understood.  One  of  the 
first  steps  to  be  taken  to  remove  these  disadvantages  is  to 
place  labor,  in  cases  of  contest,  on  equal  terms  with  capital. 
This  can  be  greatly  promoted  by  the  aid  of  the  State  and 
Federal  governments.  Establish  by  legislative  authority  tri- 
bunals of  arbitration  and  boards  of  conciliation,  and  useful 
progress  will  be  made  in  the  right  direction. 

Combination,  union  and  harmony  are  power.  In  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  societies  of  tradesmen,  by  combination  and  concert 
of  action,  overcame  the  robber-baron  and  the  feudal  lord,  and 
wrested  from  them  their  rights  long  denied.  Mechanical  in- 
dustry was  essentially  of  a  democratic  character ;  and  between 
it  and  the  feudal  system  there  was  an  "irrepressible  conflict." 
Small  bodies  of  organized  mechanics  existed  as  early  as  the 
twelfth  century.  Labor  is  the  working  man's  capital.  Let 
him  combine  it  by  organization.  The  small  beginnings  of 
the  twelfth  century  have  grown  to  enormous  proportions  in  the 
nineteenth.  We  have  witnessed  its  growth  in  this  country. 
But  look  abroad.  The  Labor  Parliament  (or  Trades-union 
Congress)  held  in  England,  in  1876,  represented  113  societies 
and  557,488  members.  The  same  convention  held  at  Lei- 
cester, in  1877,  represented  112  societies  and  691,089 
members. 

Every  intelligent  man  knows  that  some  disease  lurks  in 
the  body  politic,  when,  as  now,  in  a  short  life-time,  a  single 
individual  can  accumulate  a  fortune  of  a  hundred  millions. 


THE  WORLD'S  BENEFACTORS.  507 

This  disease  should  be  cured.  The  laboring  man,  mechanic 
or  farmer  has  furnished,  in  times  past,  the  great  world- 
teachers  and  benefactors. 

If  the  labor  organizations  shall  succeed  in  establishing 
peaceful  methods  of  solving,  not  only  now  to  prevent  strikes 
and  lockouts,  but  how  to  prevent  the  growth  of  monster  mo- 
nopolies of  wealth  on  the  one  hand,  and  monster  deformity  of 
poverty  on  the  other,  then  will  history  speak  of  them  as 
among  the  most  beneficent  instances  of  justice. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

CO-OPERATION. 

OPINIONS' OF  JOHN  STUART  MILL  AND  GEORGE  JACOB  HOLYOAKE — ANTIOJJITY 
OF  Co-OPERATVE  FORMS — PROFIT  SHARING  IN  AGRICULTURE — REORGAN- 
IZING SOCIETY  —  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS  —  PROFIT-SHARING  IN  FRANCE 
—  CO-OPERATIVE  CREDIT  IN  GERMANY,  RUSSIA  AND  ITALY  —  RAW- 
MATERIAL  SUPPLIES  SOCIETIES  —  CO-OPERATION  IN  AMERICA,  IN  1830  — 
NEW  ENGLAND  PROTECTIVE  UNION  —  THE  GRANGER  MOVEMENT  — 
SOVEREIGNS  OF  INDUSTRY  —  INDUSTRIAL  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA 
AND  TRENTON  —  CO-OPERATIVE  SOCIETY  —  CO-OPERATIVE  CREDIT  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES  —  CO-OPERATIVE  PRODUCTIVE  ENTERPRISES  — 
OFFICIAL  STATISTICS  —  CO-OPERATIVE  COAL-MINING  —  TENDENCIES  OF 
CO-OPERATIVE  EXPERIMENTS  —  FIRST  AMERICAN  ATTEMPTS  AT  PROFIT- 
SHARING  —  MORE  WEALTH  DIVIDED  —  INTEREST  AND  FAITH  —  NET 
PROFIT  —  PLANS  OF  DIVISION  OF  PROFIT  —  THE  CHIEF  DEFECT  — 
THE  IMMEDIATE  NEED  —  INDUSTRIAL  FEDERATION — COMPETITION  — 
CO-OPERATION  AND  SOCIALISM  —  THE  DUTY  OF  THE  STATE — JUST 
LEGISLATION  AND  THE  CONTROL  OF  MONOPOLIES  IN  THE  HANDS  OF 
VOTERS. 

ONE  of  the  purposes  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  as  set  forth 
in  the  preamble  of  their  constitution, is:  "To  establish  co- 
operative institutions,  such  as  will  tend  to  supersede  the  wage- 
system  by  the  introduction  of  a  co-operative  industrial  system." 
This  statement  contains  the  true  co-operative  idea.  Co-opera- 
tion is  industrial  reorganization.  At  present,  the  chief  efforts  of 
organized  labor  are  directed  toward  securing  amelioration  of 
the  wage-system.  Arbitration,  a  shorter  working-day,  restric- 
tion of  the  labor  of  children  and  married  women,  are  the  imme- 
diate demands.  Beyond  these  a  majority  of  workingmen  have 
as  yet  no  definite  plan,  save,  as  they  hope,  by  limiting  the 
competition  for  employment,  to  get  better  wages.  The  leaders 
of  the  co-operative  movement  go  farther,  and  attack  the  pres- 
ent basis  of  distribution  ;  it  is  better  not  to  say  the  wage-system, 
because  the  regular  payment  of  stipulated  wages,  at  frequent 
intervals,  is  a  necessary  feature  of  any  practicable  co-operation. 

(508) 


MEANING    OF    CO-OPERATION.  509 

They  assert  that  the  arrangement  by  which  profits  are  dis- 
tributed,—  solely  on  the  basis  of  capital,  while  labor,  having 
no  control  of  the  means  of  production,  is  bought  at  the  lowest 
market-rates,  —  is  wrong.  They  claim  that  labor,  including 
brain-labor,  should  receive  its  wages  at  market-rates,  and 
capital  its  interest  at  market-rates,  and  that  whatever  profit 
then  remains  should  be  divided  among  all  parties  having  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  product,  from  the  workers  to  the  con- 
sumers. John  Stuart  Mill  said  :  — 

Co-operation  is  where  the  whole  of  the  produce  is  divided.  What  is  wanted 
is  that  the  whole  working  class  shall  partake  of  the  profits  of  labor. 

And  George  Jacob  Holyoake's  definition  of  co-opera- 
tion is  :  — 

Co-operation  is  a  scheme  by  which  profits  can  be  obtained  by  concert,  and 
divided  by  consent,  including  with  the  producers  the  indigent  consumer. 
The  original  and  defensible  purpose  of  co-operation  is  the  better  distribution 
of  wealth  throughout  the  whole  community,  including  the  consumer.  Co- 
operation to  benefit  the  capitalist  at  the  expense  of  the  workman,  or  to  benefit 
the  workman  at  the  expense  of  the  consumer,  still  maintains  a  virtual  con- 
spiracy against  the  purchasing  public.  Such  co-operation  leaves  the  third 
and  larger  class  unprotected  and  unbenefited,  save  indirectly  or  temporarily. 

This  scheme  is  nowhere  completely  realized  as  yet.  Dis- 
tributive co-operation  divides  the  profits  of  retail  trade  among 
consumers.  Co-operative  banks  and  building  associations 
divide  the  profits  of  the  money-lender  and  the  landlord  among 
home-owners.  The  industrial  arrangements  variously  known 
as  productive  co-operation,  profit-sharing  and  industrial  part- 
nership, distribute  the  profits  of  production  among  workers 
in  proportion  to  their  services.  While  all  these  last-named 
arrangements  are  co-operative  in  principle  and  profit-sharing 
in  practice,  and  all  are  therefore  in  a  broad  sense  industrial 
partnerships,  it  is  convenient  to  distinguish  by  these  terms 
three  different  types  of  co-operation,  according  as  one  or  an- 
other feature  predominates.  In  productive  co-operation,  then, 
the  workers  own  the  business  and  choose  the  managers,  who 
are  responsible  and  accountable.  In  the  usual  forms  of  sim- 
ple profit-sharing,  the  business  is  owned  by  a  firm  or  cor- 
poration, in  which  the  workmen,  or  the  majority  of  them,  at 


5IO  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

least,  are  not  legal  partners  or  stockholders,  but  are  allowed 
a  dividend,  or  bonus,  from  the  profits.  The  perfect  industrial 
partnership  is  a  more  complex  organization,  uniting  the  busi- 
ness talent,  enterprise  and  resources  of  one  or  two  chief  part- 
ners, holding  a  controlling  interest,  with  the  fidelity  and  in- 
dustry of  interested  workmen,  who  not  only  receive  a  dividend 
on  their  labor,  but  are  encouraged  also  to  become  stockhold- 
ers, and  thereby  to  share  in  the  dividend  to  capital  and  in  the 
control  of  the  business.  Profit-sharing  concerns,  when  they 
develop  in  a  natural  way,  without  interference  or  mishap, 
tend  to  become  industrial  partnerships.  Co-operative  com- 
panies would  undoubtedly  do  the  same,  but  'for  the  limitation 
of  individual  stockholding,  which  prevents  any  one  mem- 
ber or  minority  of  members  from  acquiring  a  controlling 
interest. 

Most  of  the  co-operative  producing  companies  in  this  coun- 
try and  abroad  are  but  imperfectly  co-operative  in  actual 
organization  and  practice.  The  workmen  organize  as  a  joint- 
stock  company  or  corporation,  paying  in  their  capital,  and 
electing  a  treasurer,  clerk  and  directors,  who  elect  a  presi- 
dent and  other  executive  officers.  The  management  hires 
and  discharges  help,  giving  preference  to  stockholders,  but 
not  usually  under  any  obligation  to  retain  an  incompetent 
man  because  he  is  a  stockholder.  The  workers  are  paid 
wages  at  regular  intervals,  just  as  if  they  had  no  ownership 
in  the  concern,  and  at  the  -end  of  the  year  receive  the  profits, 
if  any,  in  the  form  of  dividends.  Where  the  co-operative  idea 
is  strictly  carried  out,  only  a  part  of  the  profits  is  divided  as 
a  dividend  on  capital.  Another  part  is  divided  as  a  dividend 
on  labor,  and  apportioned  among  the  workmen,  according  to 
their  wages,  or  the  number  of  days  each  has  worked.  A  third 
part  is  divided  as  a  dividend  on  purchases,  the  chief  cus- 
tomer, in  this  case,  being  a  co-operative  store,  which  is  a  stock- 
holder in  the  producing  company.  When  the  entire  profit  is 
divided  on  the  shares  of  capital,  the  company  is  still  in  a  de- 
gree co-operative,  inasmuch  as  the  workers  own  the  capital, 
usually  in  nearly  equal  amounts.  The  profit  contains  an 
increment  created  by  the  superior  zeal  of  the  working  owners 


CO-OPERATION    IN    ENGLAND.  511 

as  self-employers  ;  and  the  dividend  each  receives  under  these 
conditions  must  be  approximately  proportional  to  his  services. 

Co-operative  and  fraternal  forms  of  industrial  association 
are  as  ancient  as  society  itself.  The  joint  undivided  family, 
from  which  grew  craft-guilds  and  brotherhoods,  and  the 
village  communities,  from  which  sprang  the  English  parish 
and  the  New  England  town,  were  to  a  great  degree  com- 
munistic in  their  industrial  affairs.  From  time  immemorial, 
profit-sharing  has  existed  in  agriculture  and  fisheries,  and 
it  is  probably  older  than  the  wage-system  as  a  method 
of  rewarding  labor.  The  earliest  industrial  institutions 
of  the  New  World  were  largely  co-operative  in  principle 
and  practice.  But  the  forms  and  applications  of  co-operation 
that  we  are  here  concerned  with,  had  their  origin  in  that 
quickening  of  humanitarian  thought  and  zeal  which  was 
started  by  the  speculations  of  St.  Simon  and  Fourier, in  France, 
and  Robert  Owen,  in  England.  They  are  the  tangible  re- 
sults of  the  united  efforts  of  those  who  looked  forward  to  a 
speedy  reconstruction  of  society  as  a  whole,  and  of  many 
others  wrho  cherished  no  such  dreams,  but  had  faith,  none- 
theless, that  something  could  be  done  by  personal  effort  and 
voluntary  association  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  labor. 
The  different  plans  have  been  developed,  and  have  flourished 
best  in  as  many  different  countries,  each  proving  to  be  spe- 
cially adapted  to  certain  social  conditions  and  types  of  char- 
acter. The  co-operative  association  and  training  of  workmen 
in  production  and  distribution,  without  the  intervention  of  the 
employing  capitalist,  has  been  carried  farthest  in  England. 
Profit-sharing,  as  a  voluntary  concession  by  employing 
capitalists,  has  had  its  best  development  in  France,  and  co- 
operative credit  has  succeeded  best  in  Germany  and  the 
United  States. 

Of  the  more  than  three  hundred  co-operative  societies 
started  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales  and  Ireland,  between 
1820  and  1830,  when  faith  in  the  possibility  of  reorganizing 
society  was  strong,  some  were  thoroughly  communistic, 
dividing  profits  equally  among  members,  without  regard  to 
capital  invested  or  value  of  services.  Others  divided  on 


512  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

capital  only.  Nearly  all  were  short-lived ;  and  it  was  not  till 
1844  that  the  idea  which  was  to  afford  to  distributive  co- 
operation a  substantial  basis  and  ensure  its  growth — that  of 
dividing  profits  in  proportion  to  purchases  —  was  successfully 
worked  out  by  the  Rochdale  Pioneers.  From  that  time  on, 
the  movement  had  able  business  direction,  and  the  sympathetic 
aid  of  such  leaders  of  opinion  as  Charles  Kingsley,  Frederick 
D.  Maurice  and  Thomas  Hughes  ;  and,  during  the  last  twenty 
years,  British  workingmen  co-operators  have  done  a  business 
of  £250,000,000,  on  which  they  have  made  a  profit  of  £20,- 
000,000.  Methods  have  been  reduced  to  system,  and  a  secure 
foundation  obtained  in  statute-law.  On  the  Continent,  both 
distributive  and  productive  co-operation  have  been  extend- 
ing, and  at  present  seventy  productive  societies  in  France 
have  a  membership  of  4,920,  and  a  capital  of  about  5,000,000 
francs. 

Meanwhile,  profit-sharing  by  the  employer  with  wrage- 
earning  employees,  first  successfully  attempted  in  1831.,  by 
Vandeleur,  on  his  estate  in  Ireland,  and  then  tried  in  France, 
where  it  found  favorable  conditions,  by  the  Parisian  house- 
painter,  Leclaire,  in  1842,  and  by  the  Paris  and  Orleans  Rail- 
way Company,  in  1844,  has  been  so  steadily  growing  in  favor 
that  at  the  close  of  1885,  there  were  ninety-eight  profit-sharing 
houses  on  the  Continent,  of  which  forty-nine  were  in  France 
and  twelve  in  Switzerland.  Some  convert  the  dividends  to 
labor  into  shares  of  stock ;  and  in  the  two  most  perfectly 
organized  industrial  partnerships  in  the  world,  —  those  of 
the  Maison-Leclaire  and  M.  Godin's  Familistere,  at  Guise, — 
not  only  may  the  workers  become,  through  their  profits,  share- 
holders, but  shareholding  workmen  may  become  directors 
and  managers,  —  the  way  being  open  for  the  humblest  worker, 
if  he  has  ability  and  character,  to  rise  to  the  highest  place. 

The  earlier  forms  of  co-operation  revealed  the  need  of  co- 
operative credit ;  and  this  was  organized  by  Dr.  Schulze,  at 
Delitzsch,  in  Germany,  in  1850.  The  Schulze-Delitzsch 
credit-unions,  now  known  by  the  simpler  name  of  people's 
banks,  which  he  founded,  enable  the  poorest  persons  not  only 
to  save,  but  to  borrow  small  sums  on  such  security  as  wages. 


CO-OPERATION    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  513 

due,  merchandise,  or  chattels,  or  to  secure  any  other  common 
banking  service.  They  have  multiplied  rapidly  in  Germany, 
Russia  and  Italy,  and  have  accomplished  an  immense  amount 
of  good,  enabling  the  workman  or  small  tradesman  to  buy 
tools  or  enlarge  his  business  without  ruinous  resort  to  Shy- 
locks  and  p a v/n -brokers.  There  were  1,965  of  these  banks 
in  Germany  in  1884,  879  of  which  reported  loans  amounting 
to  1,516,952,618  marks.  Dr.  Schulze  also  founded  the  raw- 
material  supply  societies,  which  enable  handicraftsmen  to 
buy  material  at  wholesale  rates.  These,  with  the  co-opera- 
tive magazines,  o*  selling-houses,  —  another  class  of  societies 
peculiar  to  Germany,  —  do  much  to  enable  independent  pro- 
ducers on  a  small  scale  to  maintain  themselves  in  competition 
with  large  manufacturing  establishments. 

This  glance  at  the  progress  of  co-operation  in  Europe 
shows  us  the  antecedents  of  co-operation  in  America,  and 
affords  a  basis  of  comparison  for  estimating  American  results. 
As  early  as  1830,  co-operation  began  to  engage  the  attention 
of  the  workingmen  in  New  England,  and  isolated  experi- 
ments in  co-operative  distribution  were  here  and  there  made. 
Most  of  them  were  short-lived,  and  even  the  record  of  their 
names  seems  to  be  now  beyond  recovery.  The  New  England 
Association  of  Farmers  and  Mechanics  discussed  the  subject  at 
Boston,  in  1831,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  investigate  it; 
but  no  report  was  ever  made.  A  decade  of  feeble  attempts 
and  failures  followed;  and  then,  in  1845,  — a  year  after  the 
successful  organization  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  in  England, 
—  a  dozen  members  of  the  Workingmen's  Protective  Union 
opened  a  store,  consisting  of  a  box  of  soap  and  half  a  chest  of 
tea,  in  a  room  over  the  Boylston  Market,  at  Boston.  In  less 
than  five  years,  the  union  had  built  up  an  annual  trade  of 
$500,000.  Its  organization  consisted  of  a  central-supply 
agency  and  local  divisions  or  branches.  The  name  was 
changed,  in  1849,  to  tne  New  England  Protective  Union. 
Growth  and  prosperity  continued  until  1853,  when  the  union 
was  ruptured  by  a  personal  controversy.  It  was  then  doing 
a  business  of  probably  $2,000,000,  or  more  a  year,  —  165  ot  its 
403  divisions  reporting  sales  of  $1,696,825  for  1852.  The 

(33) 


514  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

new  branch  called  itself  the  American  Protective  Union.  For 
a  few  years,  it  did  an  annual  business  of  $1,000,000  to  $i,- 
500,000.  The  older  branch  did  almost  as  well.  But  by  1859 
decline  set  in,  and  the  outbreak  of  the  war  brought  an  end  to 
both  branches  as  general  organizations.  Some  of  the  local 
divisions  survived,  and  are  still  in  existence.  One  of  these, 
the  Natick  Protective  Union,  with  a  capital  at  present  of 
$6,000,  and  carrying  a  stock  worth  $6,000  to  $7,000,  is 
twenty-five  years  old,  and  prosperous. 

During  the  ten  war-years,  no  general  society  for  co-opera- 
tive distribution  was  in  existence ;  but  local  societies  continued 
to  multiply.  Thirty-six  stores  in  ten  States  were  counted  in 
1866;  a  wholesale  store  at  Boston  was  projected,  and  a  con- 
ference of  New  York  and  Massachusetts  stores  was  talked  of. 
In  that  year,  there  was  a  marked  revival  of  co-operative  inter- 
est, and  a  rapid  multiplication  of  co-operative  undertakings 
began,  which  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  In  Massa- 
chusetts, they  were  given  the  benefit  of  a  general  law,  under 
which  seven  or  more  persons  could  become  an  incorporated 
association,  enjoying  all  the  powers  and  privileges,  and  sub- 
ject to  all  the  duties  and  liabilities  of  corporations  in  general, 
except  that  no  member  could  have  more  than  one  vote,  nor 
hold  shares  amounting  to  more  than  $1,000,  and  that  the 
maximum  capital-stock  was  fixed  at  $50,000.  This  limit  was 
extended  in  1879  to  $100,000. 

In  1867,  the  great  Granger  movement  began,  and  the 
Patrons  of  Husbandry  quickly  became  an  organization  of 
national  extent.  The  secretary  of  the  National  Grange  re- 
ported, in  November,  1875,  24,290  local  granges,  with  a 
membership  of  763,263.  A  year  later,  the  Order  owned  or 
controlled  twenty-two  warehouses  for  storing  goods,  thirty- 
two  grain-elevators,  and  five  steamboat  or  packet-lines.  Its 
co-operative  methods  were  of  an  imperfect  kind  at  first,  —  the 
local  granges  being  a  sort  of  purchasing-clubs,  employing 
general  agents  to  buy  and  ship  goods  in  quantity,  at  a  liberal 
discount.  This  plan  worked  well  at  first,  but  later  led  to 
heavy  losses,  and  the  Rochdale  system  was  afterwards  quite 
generally  adopted.  The  greatest  success  of  granger  co-op- 


GRANGERS,    SOVEREIGNS    OF    INDUSTRY,    ETC.  515 

eration  has  been  in  Texas,  where  the  Patrons  have  a  State 
co-operative  association,  with  a  wholesale  agency,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  stores. 

The  Sovereigns  of  Industry,  founded  at  Worcester,  Mass., 
in  January,  1874,  ^Y  William  H.  Earle,  as  a  secret  order, 
with  co-operation  as  one  of  its  principal  objects,  had  a  phe- 
nomenally rapid  growth  for  a  few  years,  and  then  as  rapidly 
went  to  pieces.  Councils'  were  formed  in  eighteen  States 
within  forty  days.  The  Rochdale  plan  was  generally  fol- 
lowed in  the  Sovereigns'  stores.  These  were  most  numerous 
in  New  England,  and  the  largest  ones  were  in  Springfield 
and  Worcester,  Mass.  In  the  former  city,  the  Sovereigns' 
block  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $35,000,  and  the  store  did  a 
business  in  one  year  of  $110,000.  The  Order  failed  in  1880; 
but  numerous  stores  in  Massachusetts  and  other  States  con- 
tinue to  perpetuate  its  name. 

The  greatest  successes  in  co-operative  distribution  have 
been  in  cities  and  towns  of  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania.  In  the  former  State,  there  are  twenty-five  or 
more  stores,  each  having  a  capital  stock  ranging  from  $1,000 
to  $15,000, — $2,000  to  $5,000  being  the  usual  amount.  The 
Industrial  Co-operative  Society,  of  Philadelphia,  has  over  2,000 
members,  who  are  mill-operatives,  $21,000  capital-stock,  and 
annual  sales  of  $250,000.  The  Trenton  Co-operative  Soci- 
ety, of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  with  200  members  and  annual  sales 
of  $15,000,  is  organized  on  a  model  basis,  —  the  division  of 
profits  including  interest  on  capital  and  a  dividend  to  the 
labor  employed,  as  well  as  to  customers.  A  granger  store 
and  bank  at  Olathe,  Kan.,  started  ten  years  ago,  has  a  capital 
of  $40,916,  has  made  sales  in  nine  and  a  half  years  to  Janu- 
ary i,  1886,  of  $1,706,110,  and,  after  paying  to  stockholders 
ten  per  cent,  on  capital,  has  divided  $99,278.83  in  dividends. 
At  present,  the  Knights  of  Labor  are  the  active  organizers  of 
co-operative  effort ;  and,  while  there  are  no  statistics  of  the 
number,  trade  and  profitableness  of  distributive  co-operation 
in  the  country  at  large,  it  is  probable  that  there  is  not  a  State, 
and  perhaps  not  a  Territory,  in  which  successful  stores  may 
not  be  found. 


5l6  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Co-operative  credit  in  the  United  States  dates  from  1831, 
when  the  Oxford  Provident  Building  Association  was  founded 
at  Frankfort,  near  Philadelphia.  To-day,  there  are  nearly 
two  thousand  such  associations  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  the 
saying  that  they  have  created  for  workingmen  in  and  around 
Philadelphia  a  hundred  thousand  homes,  tells  very  nearly  the 
literal  truth.  Within  ten  years,  they  have  been  multiplying 
under  various  names  in  other  States,  especially  in  Massachu- 
setts, New  Jersey,  Ohio  and  Illinois  ;  and  it  is  safe  to  estimate 
the  total  number  at  not  less  than  4,000,  with  a  membership  of 
more  than  500,000,  and  an  aggregate  capital  of  $1,000,000,- 
ooo.  The  plan  is  substantially  the  same  in  all,  and  may  be 
understood  from  a  summary  of  the  excellent  Massachusetts 
law  for  their  incorporation,  enacted  in  1877.  They  were  then 
called  co-operative  saving-fund  and  loan  associations ;  but 
the  name  was  changed,  in  1883,  to  co-operative  banks.  The 
membership  must  comprise  at  least  twenty-five  persons.  The 
capital  is  limited  to  $1,000,000;  and  no  member  may  hold 
more  than  twenty-five  shares  of  the  par  value  of  $200,  or 
have  more  than  one  vote.  The  shares  are  sold,  to  members 
only,  in  series,  to  be  paid  for  by  installments.  On  each  share 
that  he  buys,  the  purchaser  must  make  a  monthly  payment  of 
one  dollar,  until  the  sum  of  these  payments,  plus  the  profits 
accruing  on  the  share,  amount  to  its  nominal  value,  $200. 
The  time  varies  from  eight  to  ten  years.  The  money  in  this 
way  accumulated  is  loaned,  from  time  to  time,  to  members, 
the  loans  being  made  at  auction,  to  the  bidders  of  the  highest 
rates  of  interest.  Loans  must  be  secured  by  real  estate 
mortgage,  and  by  the  borrower's  shares  as  collateral.  No 
member  has  more  than  one  vote. 

By  means  of  the  co-operative  bank,  its  members  may  be- 
come house-owners  in  a  few  years,  through  monthly  pay- 
ments, little,  if  any,  greater  than  they  would  pay  for  rent. 
With  the  strongest  inducements  to  save,  they  are  encouraged 
to  -save  in  the  easiest  way,  —  by  regular  installments  of 
moderate  amount.  As  borrowers,  they  can  obtain  small 
sums  as  readily,  and  on  as  favorable  terms,  as  large  ones. 
There  is  ample  time  for  payment,  and  the  debt  is  all  the  while 


CO-OPERATION    IN    THE    WEST.  517 

undergoing  extinction.  In  some  States,  there  have  been 
heavy  losses  through  bad  management ;  but  in  Massachusetts, 
these  banks  are  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  savings-bank 
commissioner,  and  their  shares  are  as  safe  as  any  investment 
can  be.  The  advantages  of  this  free  State  oversight  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  California  the  co-operative 
building  associations  find  it  worth  while  to  employ  expert 
accountants,  at  their  own  expense,  to  examine  their  books, 
and  prepare  elaborate  statements  for  the  stockholders.  The 
Pennsylvania  associations  are  allowed  to  invest  in"  real  estate 
and  engage  in  building  operations,  and  some  of  them  find  it 
advantageous  to  do  so  when  the  demand  for  loans  is  slight. 
Some  of  the  Western  associations  have  enjoyed  remarkable 
prosperity.  The  Quincy  Building  and  Homestead  Associa- 
tion, of  Illinois,  has  5,750  shares  in  force,  on  which  the 
annual  profit  is  thirteen  per  cent. ,  and  in  twelve  years  it  has 
paid  out  $70,930.64  in  profits  on  matured  stock  and  with- 
drawn shares. 

Productive  co-operation  is  co-operation  in  its  most  difficult 
form,  and  its  development  has  been  correspondingly  slow ; 
yet  it  has  been  substantial.  In  such  industries  as  iron-found- 
ing, wood-working,  boot  and  shoe-making,  glass-making, 
hat  and  cigar-making,  production  by  associated  workmen  is 
well  established  in  the  United  States.  The  earliest  co-opera- 
tive productive  enterprise  of  which  we  have  any  record  was 
that  of  the  Boston  Tailors'  Associative  Union,  of  1849,  which 
divided  profits  among  its  members  in  proportion  to  the  labor 
they  performed.  It  did  not  long  survive.  Scarcely  anything 
was  done  until  after  the  war,  when  the  Iron-moulders'  Inter- 
national Union  became  interested  in  the  subject,  through  the 
efforts  of  its  founder,  William  H.  Sylvis,  who  made  a  report 
in  1864,  urging  the  advantages  of  co-operative  foundries. 
Several  foundries  were  soon  after  started,  in  accordance  with 
his  ideas,  three  or  four  of  which  are  yet  in  existence.  The 
oldest  is  the  Troy  Co-operative  Stove  Works,  established  in 
April,  1866.  This  was,  for  a  time,  a  true  co-operative  com- 
pany. No  member  had  ever  more  than  one  vote,  and  all 
earnings  in  excess  of  ten  per  cent,  were  divided  on  the  basis 


518  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  labor.  The  co-operative  features  have  disappeared,  and  it 
has  become  a  stock-company,  with  thirty  shareholders.  In 
1867  were  started  the  co-operative  foundries  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  Cleveland,  O.,  and  Somerset,  Mass.  All  the  em- 
ployees of  the  former,  at  first,  were  stockholders,  and  profits 
in  excess  of  twelve  per  cent,  were  divided  according  to  the 
earnings  of  labor ;  but,  after  a  few  years,  the  initial  dividend 
on  capital  was  advanced  to  seventeen  and  a  half  per  cent., 
then  to  twenty-five  per  cent.,  and  before  long  the  bonus  to 
labor  was  discontinued  altogether.  Now,  not  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  employees  are  stockholders.  The  Somerset 
foundry,  which  had  been  a  failure  in  private  hands,  was 
bought  by  a  company  of  working  moulders,  who  brought  it 
up  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity.  Profits  are  paid  on  capital 
only,  but  other  co-operative  features  have  been  retained.  By 
the  law  of  the  State,  no  member  can  hold  stock  in  excess  of 
$1,000,  or  have  more  than  one  vote ;  and  the  by-laws  give  a 
preference  to  stockholders  and  their  sons  in  employment  and 
apprenticeship,  and  require  members  wishing  to  sell  their 
shares  to  offer  them  first  to  the  company.  There  are  success- 
ful co-operative  foundries  of  later  establishment  at  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis. 

Though  most  of  the  co-operative  producing  companies  in 
the  United  States  are  so  imperfectly  co-operative,  being  little 
more  than  joint-stock  associations  of  workmen,  they  are,  none- 
theless, as  such,  of  no  little  importance  in  the  growth  of 
co-operative  methods  ;  for  they  are  affording  to  their  members 
the  training  and  business  experience  which  co-operation  will 
demand.  The  history  of  nearly  every  one  is  the  record  of  a 
brave  struggle  to  accumulate  a  sufficient  working  capital  and 
an  assured  credit.  Yet  these  obstacles  have  not  only  been 
overcome  in  scattering  individual  instances,  but  in  some 
places  by  considerable  groups  of  co-operative  undertakings. 
Conspicuous  among  such  are  the  co-operative  enterprises  at 
St.  Louis,  Minneapolis,  and  Stoneham,  Mass. 

At  St.  Louis,  besides  the  foundry  already  mentioned,  there 
are  four  prosperous  wood- working  and  furniture  companies. 
The  oldest,  the  Mechanics'  Planing-Mill  Company,  was 


VARIOUS    CO-OPERATIVE    ENTERPRISES.  519 

founded  in  1874.  The  nominal  capital  was  $50,000,  but 
there  were  only  $10,000  paid  in  and  available.  The  members 
accepted  the  smallest  cash  payment  for  their  labor  that  they 
could  live  on,  and  took  the  balance  due  them  in  certificates 
of  stock.  At  one  time,  the  company  had  not  credit  enough  to 
buy  ten  feet  of  belting,  and  in  the  second  year  the  works  were 
totally  destroyed  by  fire,  at  a  loss  of  $8,000.  But  in  1884,  the 
capital-stock  was  all  paid  up,  and  a  surplus  of  $35,000  had 
been  accumulated;  and  the  shares,  of  the  par  value  of  $500, 
are  now  held  at  $1,000.  The  Furniture  Workers'  Associ- 
ation, started  in  1878,  with  almost  no  capital,  has  accumu- 
lated one  by  funding  a  percentage  of  wages,  and  has  become 
prosperous.  This  company  is,  to  a  considerable  degree,  truly 
co-operative,  —  no  person  being  permitted  to  own  more  than 
twenty  of  the  twenty-five  dollar  shares,  and  pains  being  taken 
to  keep  the  stock  in  the  hands  of  working  *nembers.  The 
Central  Furniture  Company,  organized  in  1881,  has  a  paid-up 
capital-stock  of  $30,000 ;  and  the  Mechanics'  Furniture 
Association,  incorporated  in  1885,  has  a  capital-stock  of 
$25,000,  one-half  paid  up.  The  former  accumulated  its 
capital  largely  from  its  earnings,  dividing  one  year  a  stock 
dividend  of  thirty-five  per  cent.,  and  another  year  twenty  per 
cent.,  and  the  latter  withholds  ten  per  cent,  of  wages,  and  de- 
clares stock  dividends. 

Among  the  coopers  of  Minneapolis,  American  co-operative 
production  has  attained  its  highest  success.  There  are  seven 
co-operative  shops,  employing  four  hundred  and  fifty  work- 
men, most  of  whom  are  stockholders,  and  doing  a  business 
of  $1,000,000  a  year.  The  oldest,  the  Co-operative  Barrel 
Association,  \vas  organized  in  the  fall  of  1874,  with  a  capital- 
stock  of  $15,000.  Each  member  paid  fifteen  dollars  at  first, 
and  a  weekly  assessment  of  five  dollars  until  the  whole 
amount  was  paid  in.  The  second  was  organized  in  1877,  the 
third  in  1880,  and  the  fourth  and  fifth  in  1881.  The  largest 
has  a  capital-stock  of  $75,000.  All  are  purely  co-operative 
in  plan  and  operation.  All  the  stock  is  held  by  actual  work- 
men, and  each  stockholder  has  but  one  vote.  Capital  re- 
ceives only  a  fixed  rate  of  interest,  and  profits  are  divided 


52O  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

among  the  workers  according  to  their  wages.  The  men  are 
described  as  "a  mixed  multitude  of  Swedes,  Norwegians, 
Irish,  Germans,  Italians  and  Americans ;  yet  they  consult 
dispassionately,  vote  fairly,  submit  without  hesitation,  work 
faithfully,  choose  their  best  men  always,  obey  implicitly,  and 
have  unlimited  faith  in  co-operative  effort."  Before  they  be- 
came co-operators,  they  had  a  bad  reputation  on  the  score  of 
sobriety  and  order ;  they  now  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of 
the  community  as  good  citizens. 

The  four  co-operative  boot  and  shoe  companies  at  Stone- 
ham,  Mass.,  are  co-operative  only  to  the  extent  that  each 
stockholder  can  own  but  $1,000  of  the  capital-stock,  and  have 
but  one  vote ;  but  as  stock  associations  of  workingmen  pro- 
ducers, they  have  been  remarkably  successful.  The  Stone- 
ham  Co-operative  Shoe  Company  was  organized  in  1872,  by 
men  temporarily  unemployed,  who  subscribed  a  capital-stock 
of  $10,000,  which  was  increased  to  $15,000  in  1880,  and  to 
$20,000  in  1881.  Its  stockholders  are  of  all  nationalities,  and 
have  always  worked  together  harmoniously.  The  value  of  its 
annual  product  is  $150,000;  and  its  dividends,  from  1879  *° 
1884  inclusive,  were  seventeen,  fifteen,  fifteen,  twenty-one, 
twenty  and  six  per  cent.  The  Middlesex  Co-operative  Boot 
and  Shoe  Company,  organized  in  1875,  with  a  capital-stock  of 
$10,000,  increased  in  1883  to  $15,000,  has  paid  dividends  of 
ten  per  cent,  in  1880  and  1881,  twenty  per  cent  in  1882  and 
1884,  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  1883.  The  shares  of  both 
these  companies  have  been  transferred  at  $400,  the  par  value 
being  $250.  The  value  of  the  annual  product  of  the  Middle- 
sex is  $90,000.  The  American  Co-operative  Boot  and  Shoe 
Company  was  organized  in  1882,  with  a  capital  of  $10,000, 
which  was  increased  to  $20,000  in  1883,  and  to  $30,000  in 
1884.  It  does  a  business  of  $50,000  a  year.  There  is  not 
much  mixture  of  nationalities  among  stockholders,  and  stock 
is  regarded  as  an  investment  merely,  giving  no  claim  to  any 
other  advantage.  The  Franklin  Co-operative  Boot  and  Shoe 
Company  dates  from  1883,  has  a  capital  stock  of  $20,000,  and 
does  a  business  of  $50,000  a  year.  It  started  with  $7,000 
paid  in.  In  this  company,  stockholders  have  the  first  right  to 


PROFIT-SHARING    IN    MASSACHUSETTS.  521 

employment,  and  the  expectation  is  that  they  will  be  given 
employment  when  possible.  These  four  shops  gave  employ- 
ment in  1885  to  185  workers,  of  whom  97  were  stockholders. 
One  hundred  and  four  of  the  employees  were  females,  and 
twenty-five  of  the  female  employees  were  stockholders. 

Massachusetts  is  the  only  State  which  has  yet  published 
official  statistics  of  the  co-operative  production  within  its 
territory.  These  were  included  in  the  report  on  "Profit- 
Sharing,"  prepared  by  the  present  writer  for  the  Seventeenth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor.  From 
1867  to  1875,  fifteen  co-operative  manufacturing  companies 
were  organized  in  that  State,  and  only  three  of  them  are  still 
in  existence.  Five  of  the  defunct  companies  were  boot  and 
shoe-manufacturers,  and  of  these  three  were  at  Lynn.  The 
other  two  were  at  North  Adams  and  Truro.  The  other  seven 
extinct  companies  were  cigar-manufacturers,  —  six  at  Westfield 
and  one  at  Springfield.  At  Lynn  and  Westfield,  therefore, 
co-operative  production  has  been  a  failure.  Insufficient  capi- 
tal and  disagreements  among  the  members  were  the  chief 
causes  of  disaster.  In  the  ten  years,  1875  to  J885,  thirteen 
more  companies  were  organized,  six  of  which  were  short- 
lived. These  were  two  cigar  companies  at  Westfield,  two 
boot  and  shoe  companies  at  Marlborough,  a  furniture  com- 
pany at  Orange,  and  a  hardware  company  at  Greenfield. 
There  were  left  ten  companies  in  operation  in  1885,  besides 
two  or  three  small  printing  and  publishing  companies.  The 
five  besides  the  Somerset  foundry  and  the  four  Stoneham  shoe 
companies,  were  the  Kingston  Co-operative  Foundry  at  King- 
ston, the  Leonard  Co-operative  Foundry  at  Taunton,  the  East 
Templeton  Co-operative  Chair  Company,  the  Athol  Co-oper- 
ative Furniture  Company,  and  the  Wakefield  Co-operative 
Shoe  Company.  The  ten  had  an  aggregate  capital-stock  of 
$191,900,  an  annual  business  of  $605,000,  and  gave  employ- 
ment to  264  men  and  83  women,  of  whom  186  men  and  26 
women  were  stockholders.  The  average  dividend  of  the  ten 
companies  for  ten  years  had  been  four  and  six-tenths  per 
cent.  ;  but  there  had  been  in  two  cases  heavy  losses  by  fire, 
and  two  companies  had  so  recently  started  that  no  dividend 


522  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

had  been  declared.  The  Knights  of  Labor  have  recently 
established  co-operative  shoe  companies  at  Lynn  and 
Spencer. 

Among  the  scattering  enterprises  in  productive  co-opera- 
tion may  be  mentioned  the  Flint-Glass  Works,  at  Beaver  Falls, 
Penn.,  established  in  1879,  which  have  paid  large  dividends; 
the  Co-operative  Iron-Moulders,  at  Nashua,  N.  H.  ;  the  hat- 
makers,  at  South  Norwalk,  Conn.  ;  Co-operative  Granite 
works,  at  South  Ryegate,  Vt.,  and  Quincy,  Mass.  ;  Co-opera- 
tive Carpenters,  at  Decatur,  111.  ;  Expressmen,  at  Detroit;  a 
co-operative  coal-mining  company,  at  Peoria,  111.  ;  a  nail  mill 
at  Carmi,  111.  ;  and  co-operative  manufacturing  companies  at 
Easton,  Penn.,  and  Richmond,  Va.  The  Kentucky  Railroad 
Tobacco  Company,  at  Covington,  Ky.,  is  unique  in  its 
method  of  dividing  profits,  and  claims  to  be  the  only  factory 
in  the  United  States  that  recognizes  the  equality  of  labor  and 
capital.  Each  workman  is  supposed  to  represent  a  labor- 
capital,  on  which  his  wages,  at  the  current  rates  of  the 
vicinity,  are  a  six  per  cent,  dividend.  If  his  wages  are  $9  a 
week,  he  represents  a  labor-capital  of  $7,500  ;  since  $7,500  at 
six  per  cent,  would  yield  $450,  his  actual  wages  being  $468. 
Each  workman,  then,  is  paid  his  wages  weekly.  Money- 
capital,  in  like  manner,  receives  six  per  cent,  interest.  If, 
after  making  these  payments,  any  surplus  profit  remains,  it  is 
divided  -pro  rata  on  the  money  and  labor-capital.  Thus  the 
man  whose  wages  are  $468  a  year,  will  have  his  dividend 
computed  on  his  $7,500  of  labor-capital,  not  on  his  $468  of 
wages.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  dividend  to  labor  is  much 
larger  in  proportion  to  the  dividend  to  capital,  under  this  plan, 
than  it  is  when  computed  as  a  percentage  on  wages.  Every 
stockholder  in  this  company  is  required  to  be  a  worker,  and 
every  worker  to  be  a  Knight  of  Labor. 

A  comparison  of  records  shows  that  a  large  percentage  of 
co-operative  enterprises  have  been  started  by  men  temporarily 
out  of  employment,  and  in  the  midst  of  dull  times.  This  fact 
accounts  for  many  of  the  discouragements  they  have  had  to 
contend  with,  and  for  many  failures.  When  employment  is 
abundant  and  wages  good,  men  are  satisfied  with  their  lot. 


IMPORTANCE    OF    CO-OPERATIVE    CREDIT.  523 

They  think  of  co-operation  when  reverses  come ;  and  it  is 
then  that  co-operation  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  establish. 
Another  cause  of  failure  has  been  the  lack  of  sufficient  capi- 
tal, and  a  third  one  the  failure  to  pay  wages  regularly,  at 
frequent  intervals.  Men 'immediately  dependent  on  the  fruits 
of  their  labor  cannot  wait  to  an  indefinite  future  for  an  uncer- 
tain and  indeterminate  profit.  It  is  true  that  several  highly 
successful  companies,  starting  with  little,  have  accumulated 
capital  by  regularly  withholding  a  percentage  of  wages.  But, 
when  this  has  been  successfully  done,  it  has  been  done  under  a 
perfectly  definite  arrangement,  faithfully  lived  up  to.  The 
wages  to  be  paid  have  been  paid  regularly,  and  the  percent- 
age to  be  deducted,  as  regularly  withheld.  The  vital  impor- 
tance of  sufficient  capital  in  co-operative  production  led  Dr. 
Schulze  to  entertain  the  belief  that  the  firm  establishment  of 
co-operative  credit  was  the  first  thing  to  be  looked  after. 
Undoubtedly,  the  two  are  destined  to  aid  each  other. 

There  has  been  a  decided  tendency  to  drop  the  co-operative 
features,  and  degenerate  into  a  mere  stock  association.  Up 
to  a  certain  point,  the  subordination  of  the  labor  relation  to 
the  stockholder  relation  seems  to  be  necessary  ;  but  this  ought 
not  to  go  to  the  extreme  of  eliminating  co-operation  altogether, 
and  it  need  not.  In  Massachusetts,  the  law  under  which  the 
companies  are  incorporated  prevents  the  complete  over-riding 
of  the  individual  by  the  capitalist,  by  limiting  the  amount  of 
the  capital-stock  that  any  member  can  own,  and  allowing  to 
each  stockholder  but  one  vote.  Probably,  before  true  co- 
operation can  be  firmly  established  in  productive  industry,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  include  in  the  law  of  incorporation  a  pro- 
vision that  the  division  of  profits  shall  be,  in  part,  on  the  basis 
of  labor. 

The  men  who  have  succeeded  in  co-operation  have  been 
men  of  superior  character  and  energy,  of  good  business 
sense,  willing  to  defer  to  each  other,  and  to  trust  large 
powers  of  management  to  their  directors,  under  responsi- 
bility, and  as  ready  to  obey  orders  as  to  help  make  them. 
The  best  thing  about  co-operative  production,  in  its  present 
stage  of  development,  is  its  educative  value.  It  is  teaching 


524 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 


men  to  regard  the  problems  of  labor  and  production  in  the 
right  way, —  training  them  in  prudence,  economy  and  business 
affairs,  and  disciplining  them  in  mutual  action  for  a  common 
end. 

Where  co-operation  initiated  and  controlled  by  workmen 
fails,  co-operation  initiated  and  controlled  by  capitalist  em- 
ployers finds  its  great  opportunity.  We  need  not  linger  over 
the  simple  forms  of  profit-sharing  familiar  in  the  fisheries  and 
in  agriculture,  in  which  a  share  of  profits  is  substituted  for 
wages,  but  will  glance  briefly  at  what  has  been  done  in  such 
highly  organized  industries  as  manufacturing,  in  profit-shar- 
ing as  supplementary  to  the  wage-system.  It  is  not  very 
much, —  only  a  beginning  has  been  made  ;  but  it  is  an  encour- 
aging beginning,  showing  that  there  are  great  possibilities  in 
this  method  of  identifying  the  interests  of  capital  and  labor. 

The  first  American  attempts  of  this  kind  appear  to  have 
been  those  of  A.  S.  Cameron  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  steam- 
pumping  machinery,  at  New  York,  and  Brewster  &  Co., 
carriage-builders,  in  the  same  city.  A.  S.  Cameron  &  Co. 
began  to  divide  profits  with  their  employees  in  July,  1869,  and 
continued  the  practice  with  marked  success  for  eight  years, 
when  it  came  to  an  end  by  Mr.  Cameron's  death.  The  method 
of  division  was  to  set  aside  annually  ten  per  cent,  of  the  com- 
pany's net  profit,  as  a  dividend  to  labor,  which  was  divided 
among  the  men  on  the  basis  of  their  wages.  The  bonus  was 
four  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  total  wages  each  year,  and  it 
did  not  operate  to  reduce  wages.  It  had  a  salutary  effect  on 
the  men,  morally  and  economically,  and  on  the  success  of 
the  firm.  The  industrial  partnership  formed  by  Brewster  & 
Co.  with  their  employees,  in  1869,  was  like  the  Cameron 
arrangement  in  the  division  of  profits,  save  that  the  divi- 
dend to  labor  was  ten  per  cent,  of  gross  profits, —  there  being 
no  deduction  first  of  any  salary  or  interest  on  capital  for 
any  member  of  the  firm.  The  employees  were  also  given 
representation  in  a  general  board  of  governors,  and  in  boards 
of  control  for  the  several  departments  of  the  work.  The  for- 
mer had  power  to  make  all  rules  and  regulations  for  the  shop, 
and  to  hear  and  investigate  complaints.  The  boards  of  con- 


EDUCATIVE    VALUE    OF    CO-OPERATION.  525 

trol  enforced  the  regulations  made  by  the  board  of  governors. 
This  arrangement  gave  entire  satisfaction  during  the  two  and 
a  half  years  of  its  continuance.  It  came  to  an  end  through 
the  excited  action  of  the  employees  in  joining  the  eight-hour 
strike,  when  they  had  it  in  their  own  power,  through  their 
board  of  governors,  to  make  eight  hours  their  working-day, 
if  they  had  chosen.  They  forfeited  a  dividend  of  $ii,ooo 
and  $8,000  in  wages. 

An  experiment  begun  at  Peacedale,  R.  I.,  in  1878,  by  the 
Peacedale  Manufacturing  Company,  has  been  a  remarkably 
interesting  one,  as  showing  the  educative  power  of  the  profit- 
sharing  arrangement.  This  firm,  manufacturing  shawls,  coat- 
ings, cassimeres,  and  other  woolen  fabrics,  employs  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  persons,  —  men,  women  and  children,  of 
all  nationalities.  It  has  had  no  serious  labor  trouble  in  twenty- 
five  years.  No  salaries  are  paid  to  the  officers,  who  are  the 
principal  stockholders  ;  and,  after  a  fair  dividend,  is  paid  on 
capital,  the  remaining  profit  is  divided  with  the  employees,  and 
distributed  on  the  basis  of  wages.  The  bonus  has  not  been 
large  at  any  time,  owing  to  the  depressed  state  of  the  woolen 
manufacture  since  profit-sharing  was  commenced,  and  some 
years  there  has  been  no  bonus ;  yet  the  effect  of  the  arrange- 
ment, as  the  firm  testifies,  has  been  to  develop  diligence, 
care-taking,  fidelity  and  interest  in  the  general  welfare  to 
a  remarkable  degree.  The  case  strikingly  exemplifies  the 
whole  theory  of  profit-sharing.  The  bonus  is  not  a  gift,  taken 
from  the  employer's  share  of  the  product,  to  be  added  to  that 
of  the  employee,  but  it  is  paid  out  of  additional  wealth, 
created  by  increased  industry  and  saving,  and  the  more  perfect 
co-operation  between  labor  and  management. 

Lister  Brothers,  manufacturers  of  agricultural  chemicals, 
at  Newark,  N.  J.,  divided  $15,000  of  their  profits  among 
their  500  employees,  in  1882.  They  made  the  mistake  of 
dividing  by  classes,  without  reference  to  individual  worth,  as 
measured  by  wages  ;  and  the  inevitable  consequences  of  mis- 
understandings and  jealousies  terminated  the  experiment. 
The  Pillsbury  Flour-mills,  at  Minneapolis,  have  been  dividing 
profits  with  employees  for  four  years,  with  such  excellent 


526  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

results  that  a  member  of  the  firm  says  that  the  arrangement 
will  not  be  willingly  discontinued,  so  far  as  the  firm  is  con- 
cerned. To  participate,  an  employee  must  have  worked  for 
the  firm  five  years.  Three  years  ago  $25,000,  two  years 
ago  $25,000,  and  last  September  $32,000,  were  divided  among 
upward  of  100  of  the  1,100  hands.  The  five-year  limit  is 
now  bringing  in  a  large  additional  number  of  participants. 
The  dividends  to  labor  have  been  twenty-five-  to  forty  per 
cent,  of  wages. 

The  Century  Company,  of  New  York,  and  the  Staats- 
Zeitung  Company,  are  profit-sharing  publishing  companies. 
In  the  former,  the  heads  of  departments  and  their  principal 
assistants  own  stock  of  the  corporation  to  a  limited  extent ; 
and,  in  addition,  the  dividend  on  certain  other  shares  of  the 
capital-stock,  after  interest  on  the  cost  has  been  deducted,  is 
divided  among  all  employees  of  the  company,  in  proportion 
to  their  salaries.  Mr.  Roswell  Smith,  the  principal  capital- 
ist, limits  his  ownership  to  three-fifths  of  the  stock ;  so  that, 
in  general  terms,  it  may  be  said  that  capital  owns  three-fifths 
of  the  Century  Company,  and  labor  two-fifths,  except  that 
all  the  capital  employed  is  represented  by  active  workers, 
there  being  no  outside  investors.  The  Staats-Zeitung  has, 
for  several  years,  shared  profits  with  its  employees,  at  the  rate 
of  ten  per  cent,  on  their  salaries.  As  much  as  $20,000  has 
been  distributed  in  this  labor-dividend  in  one  year.  The 
paper  has  been  very  successful  in  securing  continuity  and 
fidelity  of  service. 

In  no  case  of  true  profit-sharing  are  wages  ever  reduced  to 
meet  the  dividend  to  labor.  These  American  attempts  have 
shown  that  the  dividend  is  earned  by  the  increased  interest 
and  efficiency  of  the  employees.  The  arrangement  benefits 
all.  More  wealth  can  be  divided,  for  more  is  produced  to 
divide.  It  is  a  potent  educative  influence,  bringing  employer 
and  employee  into  such  humane  relations  as  can  never  exist 
when  one  is  a  mere  buyer  of  the  physical  and  moral  powers 
of  the  other,  considered  as  merely  so  much  merchandise. 

Interest  and  faith  in  the  plan  are  rapidly  growing,  and 
within  a  year  as  many  as  ten  or  twelve  large  firms  and  cor- 


THE    BEST    STIMULANT    TO    AMBITION.  527 

porations,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  have  adopted  it. 
The  most  noteworthy  of  these-  is  the  New  England  Granite 
Works,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  Westerly,  R.  I.  The  ar- 
rangement there  is  to  divide  the  net  profits  remaining  .  after 
wages,  interest  and  all  other  necessary  expenses  have  been 
paid, into  three  parts,  — one-third  to  be  set  aside  as  a  reserve 
against  loss  and  depreciation,  the  other  two-thirds  to  be  dis- 
tributed -pro  rata  on  capital  and  labor. 

If  the  net  profit  were  $25,000,  the  capital  employed 
$100,000,  and  the  entire  amount  paid  for  labor  during  the 
year  $150,000,  the  guarantee-fund  would  be  $8,333.33,  tne 
dividend  to  capital  two-fifths  bf  the  remainder,  or  $6,666.67, 
and  the  dividend  to  labor  three-fifths,  or  $10,000.  The  divi- 
dend to  labor  is  distributed  -pro  rata  on  wages  among*  the 
men,  —  salaried  officers,  contractors  and  men  discharged  for 
cause  not  participating.  Wages  are  fixed  by  mutual  agree- 
ment or  by  arbitration,  and  the  employees  have  a  voice  in 
choosing  the  auditor  to  examine  the  accounts,  and  certify  that 
the  profits  have  been  fairly  determined.  Mr.  J.  G.  Batterson, 
president  of  the  company,  says  that,  with  the  results  of  a  long 
experience  before  him,  he  is  convinced  that  the  payment  of 
fixed  wages  to  a  large  number  of  men  carries  with  it  no 
inspiring  motive  to  the  attainment  of  a  high  standard  of  ex- 
cellence, either  as  to  quantity  or  quality  of  production  ;  and 
he  believes  thoroughly  in  the  efficiency  of  individual  interest 
as  the  only  available  stimulant  to  natural  ambition.  He  also 
makes  the  exceedingly  important  statement,  that  it  is  his  pur- 
pose to  claim  no  more  for  capital  than  is  sufficient  to  hold  it 
in  the  business,  giving  the  balance  to  labor.  This  is  a  direct 
reversal  of  the  common  rule  of  the  industrial  world,  to  buy 
labor  at  the  lowest  competitive  rates,  and  give  the  balance  to 
capital. 

Ara  Cushman  &  Co.,  shoe-manufacturers  at  Auburn,  Me., 
after  paying  interest  on  capital  and  other  expenses,  divide  the 
remaining  profit  between  labor  and  capital  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  capital  and  the  annual  value  of  labor.  Three 
representatives  of  the  employees  who  are  allowed  a  confiden- 
tial knowledge  of  the  business,  confer  with  the  firm  in  regard 


528  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

to  details  of  the  plan.  Employees  are  encouraged  to  convert 
their  dividends  into  shares  of  stock.  The  firm  of  Rogers, 
Peet  &  Co.,  clothiers,  at  New  York,  convert  an  unspecified 
percentage  of  their  net  profit  into  a  labor-dividend.  The 
Union  Mining  Company,  at  Mt.  Savage,  Md.,  pays  to  labor 
a  dividend  equal  to  ten  per  cent,  of  the  dividend  paid  to  stock- 
holders. Welshaus  &  McEwan,  of  Omaha,  Neb.,  allow  ten 
per  cent,  to  capital,  and  divide  any  remaining  profit  equally 
between  capital  and  labor.  The  N.  O.  Nelson  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  Hoffman  &  Billings 
Manufacturing  Company,  of  Milwaukee,  allow  seven  per 
cent,  to  capital,  and  divide  the  remaining  profits  equally 
between  capital  and  labor. 

The  variety  of  plans  of  division  shows  the  experimental 
nature  of  all  these  attempts,  and  reveals  the  total  lack  of 
agreement  as  to  what  is  the  most  equitable  basis.  Neverthe- 
less, there  are  a  few  business  principles  of  profit-sharing  that 
may  be  considered  established.  The  first  condition  of  suc- 
cess is,  that  the  employer  shall  have  full  faith  in  the  system, 
and  not  be  impatient  for  quick  and  showy  results.  The  identi- 
fication of  interests  aimed  at  cannot  be  achieved  in  a  day  or  a 
year ;  it  must  be  a  process  of  growth.  The  ideas  and  senti- 
ments that  years  of  antagonism  between  labor  and  capital 
have  generated,  have  all  to  be  remoulded  ;  and  that  means  a 
long  course  of  educative  work,  under  conditions  of  friendli- 
ness and  confidence.  The  second  condition  is,  that  the  abso- 
lute confidence  of  the  employees  must  be  secured  and  held. 
It  may  not  be  thought  best  to  make  them  all  acquainted  with 
every  detail  of  the  business  ;  but  they  must  be  allowed  to  know, 
through  a  committee  or  auditor  chosen  by  themselves,  that 
everything  is  as  represented.  If  the  confidence  of  the  em- 
ployees is  held,  the  question,  What  will  happen  when  there 
are  no  profits  to  divide  ?  will  answer  itself.  When  they  know 
that  the  employer  is  doing  the  best  he  can  by  them,  they  will 
submit  to  loss  and  sacrifice  without  complaint. 

The  chief  defect  of  American  plans  of  profit-sharing  so  far, 
is,  that  they  are  not  systematic  and  constructive  enough. 
They  offer  an  immediate  reward  for  increased  diligence,  but 


FRENCH    METHOD    OF    PROFIT-SHARING.  529 

fail  to  build  for  the  future.  In  this  respect,  the  prevalent 
French  method  of  converting  the  labor-dividend  into  an  accu- 
mulating fund,  is  better.  The  dividend  that  each  individual 
receives  from  year  to  year  is  small ;  but,  capitalized  from  year 
to  year,  it  would  become  a  handsome  fund.  But  the  logical 
carrying-out  of  profit-sharing  really  requires  the  conversion 
of  the  annual  bonus  into  certificates  of  stock.  The  worker 
would  then  become  a  full  legal  partner  in  the  company.  He 
would  receive  increasing  dividends  on  his  increasing  stock, 
as  well  as  on  his  labor,  and  every  year  his  interest  in  the 
business  would  be  growing  larger.  This  arrangement,  more- 
over, would  fully  meet  the  objection  of  those  who  claim  that 
profit-sharing  should  be  offset  by  loss-sharing.  As  a  stock- 
holder, the  worker  would,  of  course,  share  in  any  loss  in- 
curred, and  he  could  afford  to.  The  new  Massachusetts 
law,  enabling  corporations  to  designate  and  set  aside  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  their  stock  as  employees'  stock,  offers  an 
excellent  opportunity  for  trying  a  thorough-going  plan  of 
industrial  partnership. 

The  immediate  need  of  American  co-operation  is  a  central 
organization,  like  the  Central  Co-operative  Board  of  England, 
and  something  corresponding  to  the  English  Co-operative  Con- 
gress. Co-operators  and  profit-sharing  companies  are  work- 
ing with  little  reference  to  each  other,  and  with  little  knowledge 
of  each  other's  methods  and  results.  Central  organization 
would  speedily  reduce  the  results  of  experience  to  something; 
like  system,  and  enable  new  co-operative  undertakings  to> 
avoid  causes  of  failure.  A  promising  effort  to  bring  this  about 
is  now  being  made  by  the  Sociologic  Society  of  America, — 
an  organization  aiming  to  further  the  development -of  a  civili- 
zation based  on  co-operation  instead  of  competition. 

With  a  central  organization  established,  a  movement  to- 
ward industrial  federation,  which  is  the  co-ordination  of 
co-operation,  and  its  goal,  would  begin.  Short  of  this,  the 
highest  purpose  of  co-operation,  which,  as  was  said  at  the 
outset,  is  industrial  re-organization,  with  the  preservation  of 
what  is  best  in  the  competitive  system  without  its  evils,  can- 
not be  achieved. 

(34) 


53°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Competition  fosters  invention  and  enterprise,  and  tends  to 
reduce  the  price  of  goods  to  the  cost  of  production.  This  is 
a  good  when  the  degradation  of  labor  is  not  an  element  in  the 
reduction  of  cost.  But  this  degradation  unrestricted  com- 
petition often  produces ;  and  it  results,  also,  in  enormous 
wastes  of  wealth.  The  unnecessary  paralleling  of  rail- 
roads in  the  United  States,  according  to  Professor  Richard 
T.  Ely,  has  consumed  capital  enough  to  provide  a  comfort- 
able house  for  every  family  in  the  United  States  that  does  not 
already  own  one.  The  federation  of  co-operative  enterprise 
offers  a  way  for  placing  goods  with  consumers  at  the  lowest 
cost  consistent  with  the  liberal  reward  and  gradual  uplifting 
of  labor,  and  without  unnecessary  duplication  of  plant,  risk, 
superintendence  and  work.  All  these  conditions  would  be 
fulfilled,  if  a  group  of  co-operative  stores,  giving  their  patrons 
the  profits  of  distribution,  took  all  the  products  of  a  group  of 
farms,  manufactories,  etc.,  under  agreement  that  the  stores 
should  have  the  goods  at  the  lowest  prices  consistent  with  the 
payment  of  certain  specified  dividends  on  capital  and  labor. 
Undivided  profits,  accumulated  by  stores,  might  or  might  not, 
constitute  the  capital  of  the  manufactories  ;  the  arrangement 
could  be  the  same  in  either  case.  In  England,  federation  has 
been  attempted  on  an  altogether  inadequate  and  inflexible 
plan,  with  the  unfortunate  result  of  dividing  co-operators 
into  antagonistic  parties  of  "federalists"  and  "individualists." 
The  "  federalists "  would  have  all  productive  establishments 
owned  by  the  stores  in  their  corporate  capacity,  individual 
stockholding  being  disallowed,  the  stores  to  have  the  goods 
at  actual  cost,  —  labor  getting  nothing  beyond  wages,  except 
through  the  store  dividends  on  purchases.  No  such  narrow 
system  will  ever  prevail  widely.  A  federal  co-operation  capa- 
ble of  universal  extension  must  be  a  broad  scheme,  with  a 
place  in  it  for  the  store,  the  individual  stockholder  and  the 
profit-sharing  capitalist  employer  ;  a  "  bottom  "  price  for  the 
purchasing  co-operative  store,  and  dividends  for  the  customer, 
stockholder  and  worker.  It  must  be  also  progressive,  —  all  the 
while  expanding  and  building  for  the  future  by  carrying  out 
the  sound  advice  of  M.  Godin,  to  capitalize  and  maintain 


HOW    TO    REALIZE    CO-OPERATION.  53! 

undivided  a  portion  of  the  profits,  so  as  to  have  at  all  times 
the  resources  for  developing  new  opportunities,  and  providing 
employment  for  labor  that  might  otherwise  seek  it  in  vain. 

Co-operation  differs  from  socialism  in  its  reliance  on  the 
vitality,  adaptability  and  growing  power  of  voluntary  asso- 
ciation. It  does  not  ask  the  State  to  take  possession  of  all 
capital,  and  manage  all  industry,  and  order  all  men  in  their 
industrial  life  as  it  orders  regiments  of  soldiers.  If  the  worker 
got  more  wealth  under  a  socialistic  system  than  he  does  under 
such  employers  as  he  serves  now,  which  is  not  probable,  he 
would  at  least  not  be  more  free.  There  are  those  who  favor 
socialism,  because  they  despair  of  the  possibility  of  improving 
social  arrangements  by  any  other  means.  William  Morris, 
the  English  poet-socialist,  who  has  long  been  a  profit-sharing 
employer,  holds  that,  short  of  socialism,  co-operation  stands 
no  chance  against  a  crushing  competition.  This  is  to  over- 
look the  vitally  important  truth,  that  there  are  monstrous  evils 
associated  with  competition  at  present,  which  have  grown  up 
through  the  shameful  neglect  of  the  government  to  fulfill  its 
primary  functions  of  protecting  equal  rights  and  enforcing 
justice.  The  privileged  corporations  and  monopolies,  which 
exact  tribute  of  all  industry,  are  the  creatures  of  government, 
and  should  be  brought  by  government  within  proper  limits  of 
privilege  and  action.  If  this  were  done,  and  certain  other 
wrongs,  as  those  connected  with  unjust  land-laws,  were  reme- 
died, there  would  be  no  need  of  revolution  and  State  social- 
ism for  the  realization  of  the  co-operative  ideals.  The  remedy 
is  through  wise  legislation  and  honest  administration,  and  it 
is  in  the  hands  of  voters. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

INDUSTRIAL    EDUCATION. 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  A  FACTOR  IN  THE  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEM  —  OUT- 
LINE OF  GENERAL  SYSTEM  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  —  I.  KINDER- 
GARTEN :  FOUNDATION  OF  SYSTEM  —  II.  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  :  DRAWING  ; 
MODELING;  SEWING;  ELEMENTS  OF  SCIENCE;  SCHOOL  WORKSHOP; 
EXPERIMENTS  IN — III.  EVENING  CLASSES:  EUROPEAN  EXPERIMENTS; 
AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS  —  IV.  TRADE  SCHOOLS:  SCHOOLS  FOUNDED 
BY  PRIVATE  PHILANTHROPY;  BY  BUSINESS  HOUSES  AND  COMMUNI- 
TIES; BY  THE  STATE  —  V.  HIGHER  TECHNICAL  SCHOOLS  —  VI.  POLY- 
TECHNIC SCHOOLS,  IN  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA  — VII.  HIGH  SCHOOLS  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  ART  —  VIII.  A  CENTRAL  MODEL  SCHOOL  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
SCIENCE  AND  ART  —  IX.  INDUSTRIAL  MUSEUMS  :  SOUTH  KENSINGTON 
MUSEUM,  ETC. — X.  COST  OF  SUCH  A  SYSTEM  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCA- 
TION. 

EDUCATION  is  a  factor,  and  a  very  important  one,  in 
the  equation  of  a  higher  industrial  order.  Of  the  va- 
rious aspects  of  education  in  its  bearings  upon  the  labor  prob- 
lem, the  most  urgent  is  that  which  is  known  as  an  industrial 
education, — the  instruction  and  the  training  which  develop 
directly  the  dispositions,  the  knowledge  and  the  powers  which 
make  the  successful  handicraftsman.  Accepting  the  fact  that 
our  country  urgently  needs  such  a  system,  and  that  other  coun- 
tries have  proven  its  practicability,  let  me  try  to  sketch  the 
outlines  of  a  true  industrial  education,  illustrating  the  subject 
from  the  experiments  made  in  Europe  and  in  our  own  country, 
and  thus  indicating  the  progress  made  in  this  direction. 

I.  THE  KINDERGARTEN.  —  The  foundations  of  industrial 
education  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  superstructure. 
The  kindergarten  forms  a  most  wise  system  for  culturing  the 
dispositions  and  knowledge  and  powers  which  lay  the  foun- 
dation for  industrial' skill.  The  natural  instinct  of  childhood 
to  busy  itself  with  doing  something,  its  spontaneous  impulse 
to  be  making  something,  is  in  the  kindergarten  utilized  for 
the  purpose  of  education.  Pricking  forms  of  geometrical 
figures  and  of  familiar  objects  on  paper,  weaving  wooden 
strips  into  varied  designs,  folding  paper  into  pretty  toys  and 

(532) 


THE    KINDERGARTEN.  533 

ornaments,  plaiting  variegated  strips  of  paper  into  ingenious 
and  attractive  shapes,  modeling  in  clay,  —  these,  with  other 
kindred  exercises,  "  pretty  plays,"  as  they  all  seem,  constitute  a 
most  real  education  by  and  for  work.  By  means  of  these 
occupations,  the  eye  is  trained  to  quickness  of  perception  and 
accuracy  of  observation,  the  hand  to  deftness  of  touch  and 
skill  of  workmanship,  such  as  the  child  may  win ;  the  sense 
of  the  beautiful  is  inspired,  the  judgments  exercised  and 
strengthened,  originality  is  stimulated  by  often  leaving  the 
children  to  fashion  their  own  designs,  while  habits  of  industry 
are  inwrought  upon  the  most  plastic  period  of  life,  and  the 
child  is  accustomed  to  find  his  interest  and  delight  in  work, 
and  to  feel  its  dignity  and  nobleness. 

As  to  how  far  the  kindergarten  fulfills  practically  such  ex- 
pectations, let  Miss  Blow  testify,  —  who  should  know  whereof 
she  speaks,  since  she  was  at  the  head  of  the  kindergarten  de- 
partment of  the  public-school  system  of  St.  Louis  for  several 
years  :  — 

In  the  Des  Peres  Kindergarten,  predestined  engineers  have  built  bridges 
as  remarkable  in  conception,  as  clever  in  execution;  little  mathematicians 
have  discovered,  rather  than  learned,  all  the  simple  relations  of  numbers; 
tiny  fingers  have  guided  the  pencil  to  trace  beautiful  decorative  designs,  and 
soft  clay  has  been  fashioned  into  flowers,  fruits  and  animals,  by  the  dextrous 
hands  of  embryo  sculptors. 

The  National  Teachers'  Association,  in  convention  at  Sara- 
toga, last  summer,  expressed  the  hope  that  "  the  time  is  near  at 
hand  when  public  sentiment  and  legislative  enactment  will 
incorporate  the  kindergarten  into  our  public-school  system." 

The  kindergarten  is  already  being  adopted  as  the  sub- 
primary  department  of  our  public-school  system  in  a  few  of 
our  cities.  St.  Louis  was  the  pioneer  in  this  direction  ;  and 
to  Miss  Blow's  able  and  enthusiastic  labors  we  owe  the  splen- 
did pattern  set  by  this  city,  with  its  thirty-three  kindergartens, 
gathering  5,000  children  under  its  beautiful  culture.  The 
expenses  of  these  kindergartens  are  provided  from  the  school 
taxation.  Philadelphia  has  a  sub-primary  school  society, 
incorporated  in  1881.  In  1885,  it  had  twenty-nine  free  kin- 
dergartens under  its  care,  enrolling  a  thousand  pupils.  The 
expenses  of  the  society  amounted  to  nearly  $11,000,  for  which 


534  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  city  of  Philadelphia  appropriated  $7,500.  In  Boston,  the 
splendid  liberality  and  far-seeing  wisdom  of  one  lady  has 
provided  some  twenty  free  kindergartens.  San  Francisco 
has  a  kindergarten  association,  which  carries  on  a  number  of 
free  kindergartens  ;  and,  in  various  cities,  churches  and  phil- 
anthropic societies  support  local  kindergartens. 

II.  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL.  —  Upon  the  kindergarten,  as 
the  foundation  of  industrial  training,  there  must  be  reared  in 
the  public-school  system  the  next  stone  in  the  superstructure 
of  manual  training.  Of  course,  it  is  out  of  the  question  for 
the"  public  schools  to  undertake  to  turn  out  carpenters  or  other 
craftsmen.  Experience,  however,  shows  that  a  proper  pro- 
portion of  manual  training  furthers  mental  training  ;  that  to 
a  true  education  of  the  head  an  education  of  the  hand  is 
essential. 

The  following  branches  would  seem  to  be  entirely  practical 
in  the  public  schools,  and  eminently  serviceable  to  the  cause 
of  industrial  education  :  — 

Drawing.  —  Drawing,  freehand  and  mechanical,  chiefly 
with  relation  to  industry, — industrial  drawing,  as  it  has  well 
been  called,  —  should  plainly  constitute  an  integral  part  of  our 
system.  In  many  forms  of  scientific  industry,  it  is  of  great 
importance  to  every  workman.  In  all  forms  of  artistic  in- 
dustry, it  is  absolutely  essential.  In  all  handicrafts,  it  proves 
eminently  useful.  The  value  of  drawing,  as  a  foundation  of 
industrial  training,  is  clearly  recognized  by  all  who  have 
studied  the  subject. 

Philadelphia  claims  to  have  made  the  first  experiment  of 
a  branch-school  of  industrial  art  in  connection  with  its  public- 
school  system.  Boston  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to 
introduce  the  elements  of  drawing  into  the  public  schools 
generally.  In  most  of  our  cities  and  large  towns,  drawing  is 
now  taught  as  a  part  of  the  course.  The  results  attained  are 
sometimes  very  striking.  I  visited  lately  one  of  our  ward- 
schools  in  New  York,  in  which  the  specimens  of  drawing 
shown  greatly  surprised  me.  The  Royal  Commissioners  on 
Technical  Instruction  reported  that  they  were  "of  opinion 
that  sound  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of  drawing  should  be 


DRAWING    AND    MODELING.  535 

incorporated  with  writing,  in  all  primary  schools,  both  for 
girls  and  boys."* 

Massachusetts  has  led  off  in  our  country  in  making  draw- 
ing compulsory.  We  have  now  twenty-one  cities,  each  having 
a  population  of  from  50,000  upwards,  representing  schools 
with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  386,200  pupils,  and  fifty- 
eight  cities  having  a  population  between  10,000  and  50,000, 
with  an  attendance  of  116,000  pupils,  wherein  drawing  is 
compulsory.  The  use  of  industrial  drawing  is  rapidly  spread- 
ing through  our  public  schools. 

Modeling.  —  Modeling  is  of  great  value  in  industrial  educa- 
tion. All  that  has  been  said  of  drawing  holds  true  of  model- 
ing ;  while  it  is  to  be  added  that  the  latter  work,  dealing  with 
plastic  material,  has  certain  beneficial  influences  of  its  own. 
The  child  is  busied  in  shaping  a  thing,  and  not  merely  in 
making  a  picture  of  a  thing.  The  sense  of  touch  is  educated. 
The  average  child  finds  greater  interest  in  modeling  an  ob- 
ject than  in  drawing  any  form.  There  is  a  realism  in  the 
work  of  the  miniature  sculptor  which  the  embryo  artist  does 
not  find.  The  Royal  Commissioners  reported  that  they  were 
"  of  opinion  that  more  attention  than  has  hitherto  been  devoted 
to  it  should  be  directed  to  the  subject  of  modeling  in  the 
elementary  school.  *  *  Modeling  is  an  exercise  of  great 

importance  to  the  future  workman,  and  its  rudiments  can  well 
be  taken  up,  as  in  Continental  schools,  at  the  earliest  age."* 
Modeling  is  slowly  coming  into  use  in  our  schools. 

Sewing.  —  Sewing  can  readily  be  taught  in  our  public 
schools.  For  a  long  time,  it  has  been  taught  in  the  so-called 
industrial  schools  connected  with  our  churches  and  charitable 
organizations,  —  the  practical  experience  of  workers  amongst 
the  poor  having  taught  them  the  necessity  of  training  the 
girls  under  their  care  in  this  simple  feminine  craft,  since  a 
large  proportion  of  women  earn  their  livelihood  by  some  use 
of  the  needle.  The  trouble  with  the  charitable  work  in  this 
line  has  been  that  the  instruction  given  has  been  largely 
superficial  and  unsystematic.  Only  the  elements  of  needle- 

*  Second  Report  of  the  Royal  CommissioneVs  on  Technical  Instruction. 
Vol.  I.,  pp.  519-520. 


536  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

work  have  been  taught,  and  these  in  far  from  a  businesslike 
manner.  What  is  needful  is  that  a  well -graded  system  of 
instruction  shall  be  carried  out,  and  thorough  training  be 
given  through  all  the  stages.  Several  cities  have  already 
introduced  instruction  and  training  in  sewing,  among  them 
Baltimore,  Newark,  Boston,  Providence  and  Philadelphia. 
In  Baltimore,  one  afternoon  each  week  is  devoted  to  instruc- 
tion in  sewing,  knitting,  embroidery  and  kindred  useful 
branches.  In  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  two  hours  a  week 
are  set  aside  for  instruction  in  sewing. 

Science. — The  rudimentary  elements  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge bearing  upon  industry  could  be  given  in  our  public 
schools.  The  children  need  to  get  peeps  into  the  marvels  of 
nature,  which  open  everywhere  beneath  the  common  products 
of  mill  and  factory  and  workshop.  How  greatly  life  would 
grow  in  interest,  and  what  zest  the  daily  tasks  would  yield, 
were  there  any  such  training  from  childhood  upward  !  Hosts 
of  /nen  are  doing  mechanical  tasks  which  open  to  them  no 
springs  of  pleasure  ;  whereas  they  might  find  in  those  labors 
a  bubbling-up  of  the  waters  which  make  life  beautiful  in  the 
commonest  surroundings.  Once  started  upon  the  track  of 
observation  and  thought  in  connection  with  the  daily  work, 
a  bright  lad  would  push  on  unaided  and  educate  himself 
through  his  tasks,  while  many  a  time  lighting  upon  the  trail 
which  leads  up  to  some  great  discovery.  As  a  mere  matter 
of  doing  his  work  well,  every  \vorkingman  would  be  aided 
by  some  knowledge  of  the  processes  amid  which  he  is  busied 
daily.  Such  simple  elementary  instruction  in  science  could 
readily  be  embodied  in  our  public  schools,  in  a  manner  to  bear 
directly  or  indirectly  upon  the  industrial  life.  The  average 
boy  ought  to  pass  out  from  the  public  school  with  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  rudimentary  principles  of  the  sciences 
which  underlie  our  great  industries.  A  thorough  grasp  of 
any  of  these  sciences,  of  course,  can  only  be  obtained  in  more 
advanced  schools  or  colleges. 

Workshop.  — The  workshop  should  be  connected  with  the 
school  in  some  wav.  There  is  an  education  to  be  effected  in 

•/ 

the  use  of  tools.  —  a  science  and  an  art  of  handiwork  to  be 


THE    SCHOOL    AND    WORKSHOP.  537 

mastered.  The  Russian  system  has  scientifically  graded 
exercises  in  the  use  of  tools. 

One  very  important  advantage  of  such  a  connection  of  the 
workshop  and  the  school  would  be  that  the  boys  who  look 
forward  to  manual  labor  would  have  the  opportunity  of  trying 
their  hand  in  different  lines  of  work,  thus  finding  out  their 
natural  tastes  and  aptitudes.  This  would  prevent  the  serious 
mistakes  so  often  made  in  the  choice  of  a  trade,  —  diminishing 
the  number  of  incompetent  hands  in  each  craft,  and  adding  to 
the  general  wealth  of  the  people. 

Experiments  in  School  Workshops.  —  Experiments  have 
been  made  in  this  direction  quite  extensively,  apart  from 
State  initiative.  The  Washington  University,  St.  Louis,  was 
one  of  the  first  institutions  in  the  country  to  lead  off  in  blend- 
ing the  workshop  with  the  school-room.  Without  attempting 
to  teach  any  trade,  it  provides  training  in  carpentry,  black- 
smithing  and  turning. 

The  Commercial  Club,  of  Chicago,  has  lately  illustrated 
very  happily  the  power  of  our  great  business  associations  to 
foster  the  cause  of  industrial  education.  As  an  outgrowth  of 
a  discussion  upon  industrial  education,  the  Manual  Training 
School,  of  Chicago,  is  now  in  a  prosperous  existence,  housed 
in  an  admirable  building,  having  ample  appointments  for  its 
work,  at  a  cost  of  $100,000.  This  school  is  open  for  boys 
of  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  have  passed  through  the  gram- 
mar schools.  Its  course  of  study  comprises  mathematics  and 
some  of  the  literary  branches  of  the  ordinary  high  school, 
together  with  drawing,  freehand  and  mechanical,  carpentry, 
joinery  and  turnery,  pattern  making,  modeling  and  casting, 
forging,  machine-shop  work  and  the  study  of  enginery,  in- 
cluding the  management  of  steam-engines  and  boilers. 

Two  of  the  most  valuable  private  experiments  in  this  direc- 
tion in  our  country  are  comparatively  late  essays,  each  being 
the  result  of  a  carefully  worked  out  theory  of  education  on  the 
part  of  an  enthusiast ;  each  also  aiming  to  lead  children  on 
from  the  point  where  the  kindergarten  leaves  them.  The 
Grammercy  Park  Tool-House  is  an  adjunct  to  a  fashionable 
New  York  school.  Its  founder,  Mr.  Von  Taube,  is  an 


THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

enthusiast  upon  the  question  of  blending  manual  training  with 
general  education.  The  school-course  comprises,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  literary  department,  a  tool-house,  in  which  in- 
struction in  the  principles  and  training  in  the  methods  of  wood- 
work, metal-work,  printing,  applied  chemistry  and  general 
workshop  practice  is  given. 

The  Workingman's  School,  founded  and  sustained  by  the 
Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  of  New  York,  presents  a  peculi- 
arly interesting  attempt  to  shape  a  complete  system  of  educa- 
tion for  children,  in  which  general  intellectual  cultivation 
shall  be  allied  with  manual  training.  The  foundation  of  the 
school  is  a  free  kindergarten.  The  school  proper  assigns 
four  hours  weekly  to  instruction  in  the  use  of  tools.  As  the 
softest  wood  is  too  hard  for  the  delicate  fingers  of  children 
of  seven  years  old,  clay  is  used  in  the  earlier  series  of  lessons  ; 
for  which  a  complete  series  of  patterns  have  been  devised, 
in  reproducing  which  the  children  are  familiarized  with  vari- 
ous mathematical  forms,  and  are  taught  the  fundamental 
principles  of  geometry.  With  the  work  of  the  second  school- 
year,  object-lessons  are  given,  in  which  all  the  forms  hitherto 
taught  appear  in  the  most  various  combinations.  When  the 
children  have  reached  the  age  of  nine,  and  have  already 
worked  for  two  years,  it  is  assumed  that  they  possess  enough 
strength  and  skill  to  work  in  wood,  and  to  manage  a  simple 
saw.  With  unbarked  wood  as  a  material,  and  a  saw,  knife, 
hammer,  nails  and  a  little  glue  as  tools,  the  children  make 
photograph-frames,  match-boxes,  savings-boxes,  four-footed 
garden  furniture,  etc.  When  the  pupil  has  attained  his 
eleventh  year,  and  entered  his  fifth  school-year,  he  is  given  a 
scroll-saw  to  work  in  wood,  and,  later  on,  also,  to  work  in 
zinc.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  the  pupil  learns  to  work  after 
a  drawing,  which  drawing  must  be  thoroughly  understood. 
He  is  then  led  on  to  design  patterns,  which,  of  course,  tends 
to  develop  the  imagination.  The  simplest  house  and  kitchen 
utensils  are  manufactured,  —  such  as  pot-covers,  spoons, 
frying-pans,  strainers,  pots,  salt-cellars,  etc.  The  carpenter's 
bench  becomes  the  pupil's  true  work-table,  while  various 
planes,  drills,  saws,  constitute  the  necessary  tools.  Articles 


THE    SCHOOL    WORKSHOP. 


539 


manufactured  at  first  are  limited  to  the  most  simple  household 
utensils  ;  but  the  pupils  speedily  advance  to  more  complicated 
work.  When  this  branch  has  been  thoroughly  pursued  for 
the  period  of  two  years,  carving  and  turning  offer  very  few 
difficulties  to  the  worker.  The  last  stage  in  the  system,  as 
at  present  developed,  consists  of  instruction  in  turning  and  in 
the  locksmith's  craft. 

The  Workshop  in  the  Public  School.  —  What,  then,  has 
the  State  done  in  this  line?  The  State's  action,  in  some 
parts  of  Europe,  has  been  very  statesmanlike.  The  Royal 
Commissioners  state  that  the  "system  of  school  workshops, 
inaugurated  by  the  Austrian  Government,  is  probably  the 
most  complete  in  Europe,  and  the  results  so  far  appear  to  be 
most  encouraging."  Austria  has  already  one  hundred  Fach- 
Schule.  These  schools  sometimes  develop  into  what  are 
practically  trade-schools.  The  Innsbruck  school  provides 
class-rooms  for  freehand  drawing,  geometrical  and  mechanical 
and  modeling ;  a  physical  cabinet  and  a  rudimentary 
school  museum.  The  modeling-school  has  a  graded  series 
of  studies  for  those  who  are  looking  forward  to  metal-work, 
and  a  similar  graduated  series  of  stages  is  employed  in  the 
carving-shop.  There  are  about  two  hundred  students  in  the 
school.  These  State  schools  are  periodically  visited  by  a 
staff'  of  inspectors,  who  report  to  the  minister.  The  articles 
made  in  the  school  workshops  are  sent  to  Vienna  for  sale  in 
a  special  show-room  that  has  been  opened. 

In  our  own  country,  a  number  of  essays  have  been  made 
toward  combining  the  workshop  and  the  school,  —  notably 
in  Gloucester,  Boston  (Mass.),  Hoboken,  Montclair  (N.  J.), 
New  Haven,  Jamestown  (N.  Y.),  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
Toledo,  Peru  and  Moline  (111.).  The  courses  of  instruction 
provided  in  these  cities  are  as  follows :  Hoboken  provides 
industrial  drawing,  clay-modeling  and  sewing ;  Montclair, 
sewing,  embroidery,  carpentry  and  wood-carving ;  Moline, 
industrial  drawing  and  carpentry ;  Peru,  carpentry,  use  of 
wood-working  tools,  object  and  mechanical  drawing,  clay- 
modeling  and  casting  in  plaster,  needle-work  and  plain  sew- 
ing. Jamestown  has  established  a  very  carefully  graded 


540  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

course  of  industrial  work,  kindergarten-work,  sewing,  em- 
broidery, crocheting,  cooking,  cutting  and  fitting,  printing, 
carpentry,  industrial  drawing  and  design,  typewriting,  short- 
hand and  microscopy.  Toledo,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
Boston  have  established  manual  training-schools  in  connection 
with  their  public-school  system.  Philadelphia,  in  addition 
to  its  kindergarten  sub-primaries,  teaches  sewing  thoroughly 
through  all  grades,  and  then  provides  the  Industrial  Art- 
School,  which  supplies  instruction  in  freehand  drawing  and 
designing,  modeling  in  clay,  wood-carving,  carpentry  and 
joinery,  and  metal-work,  and  the  Manual  Training-school, 
which  adds  wood-turning,  pattern-making,  forging,  bench- 
work  and  fitting,  proper  care  and  use  of  tools,  and  study  of 
the  steam-engine,  including  the  management  and  care  of 
steam-engines  and  boilers. 

III.  EVENING  CLASSES. — For  a  long  time  to  come,  there 
will  remain  in  large  numbers  those  whose  existence  compels 
as  early  a  resort  to  work  as  possible.  Children  of  this  class 
will  drop  attendance  upon  the  school  as  soon  as  the  law 
allows.  During  the  years  that  must  elapse  before  a  thorough 
system  of  manual  training  shall  be  engrafted  upon  our  public 
schools,  there  will  be  pouring  forth  from  them  each  year  hosts 
of  lads  who  have  had  either  no  training  at  all,  industrially, 
or  only  a  very  slight  amount  thereof.  These  lads  will  need 
some  .means  of  supplementing  the  defects  of  the  present 
school-course.  Their  needs  will  demand  some  instrumen- 
tality for  developing  industrial  education  beyond  the  point 
which  the  public  school  can  reach.  The  high  school  can 
take  up  the  incomplete  courses  in  industrial  education,  and 
lead  them  on  higher,  —  as  it  should,  by  all  means,  do.  But 
only  exceptional  youths  go  into  high  schools, — those,  upon 
the  whole,  who  are  looking  forward  to  some  professional  or 
semi-professional  career.  The  bulk  of  our  boys  and  girls 
will  not  go  beyond  the  grammar  grades.  What,  then,  can 
be  done  for  this  majority  of  our  youths,  with  reference  to 
their  higher  education  in  scientific,  artistic  and  practical  in- 
dustry ?  The  answer  is  being  given  in  the  evening  schools. 
In  the  Old  World,  they  are  successfully  supplementing  the 


FRANKLIN    AND    COOPER    INSTITUTES.  541 

instruction  and  training  of  the  elementary  schools ;  and  in 
our  own  land  they  have  been  making  encouraging  experi- 
ments toward  the  same  end. 

As  to  what  is  being  done  in  this  line  in  Europe,  let  the 
English  "  Blue-Book  "  speak  :  - 

There  are  also  in  all  large  towns  in  France,  and  to  a  more  limited  extent  in 
other  countries,  numerous  evening  conferences  and  cours,  on  almost  every 
subject  of  interest  in  art,  science  and  literature,  which  workmen  have  the 
opportunity  of  attending,  as  they  are  entirely  gratuitous.  Amongst  these, 
the  most  remarkable  are  the  lectures  given  by  eminent  men  at  the  Conserva- 
toire des  Arts  et  Metiers,  of  Paris.  Most  of  these  institutions  are  of  the  nature 
of  lectures  rather  than  of  classes  for  practical  instruction.  There  are,  how- 
ever, in  many  places,  excellent  and  numerously  attended  evening  and  Sunday 
technical  classes,  more  especially  in  Belgium  and  Austria;  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  instruction  thus  given  is  already  exerting  a  considerable 
influence  on  the  capacity  and  intelligence  of  the  workmen,  and  that  this  in- 
fluence will  be  increasingly  felt  in  the  future. 

For  instruction  in  drawing,  as  applied  mainly  to  decorative  work  in  France, 
and  to  both  constructive  and  decorative  work  in  Belgium,  the  opportunities 
are  excellent.  The  crowded  schools  of  drawing,  modeling,  carving  and 
painting,  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  municipalities  of  Paris,  Lyons, 
Brussels,  and  other  cities, — absolutely  gratuitous,  and  open  to  all  comers, 
well  lighted,  furnished  with  the  best  models,  and  under  the  care  of  teachers 
full  of  enthusiasm,  — stimulate  those  manufactures  and  crafts  in  which  the  fine 
arts  play  a  prominent  part,  to  a  degree  which  is  without  parallel  in  this 
country. 

In  our  own  country,  as  usual,  the  lead  has  been  taken  by 
private  philanthropy.  We  have  had,  for  many  years,  most 
valuable  provisions  for  evening-work  in  some  of  our  leading 
cities.  The  Franklin  Institute,  in  Philadelphia,  founded  in 
1824,  has,  during  sixty  years,  provided  evening-classes, 
securing  instruction  in  drawing  on  three  evenings  in  each 
week.  A  progressive  course,  covering  mechanical,  archi- 
tectural and  topographical  drawing,  both  freehand  and 
instrumental,  has  been  laid  out,  reaching  through  a  period  of 
three  years.  Special  classes  in  machine-drawing  have  been 
lately  started.  The  institute  also  provides  courses  of  lectures 
on  subjects  connected  with  the  callings  of  its  members, — 
geology,  the  rise  and  progress  of  manufactures,  the  micro- 
scope and  its  wonders,  engineering,  mechanics,  chemistry, 
astronomy,  machine-design  and  construction,  silk  and  its 


542  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

culture,  photography,  etc.  The  institute  has  a  valuable 
library,  containing  upwards  of  15,000  volumes,  which  is  said 
to  embrace  one  of  the  most  valuable  collections  in  the  country 
upon  science  and  art.  There  is  a  membership  of  2,000.  Its 
income  is  $15,000  per  annum,  largely  from  invested  funds. 
Another  excellent  Philadelphia  institution  of  a  similar  nature 
is  the  Spring  Garden  Institute. 

One  of  the  best-known  institutions  in  the  country  is  the 
Cooper  Union,  for  the  advancement  of  science  and  art.  Its 
instruction  consists  of  a  free  library  and  reading-room,  free 
lectures  during  the  winter,  an  evening-school  of  science,  and 
an  evening-school  of  art.  There  are  also,  in  addition,  a  day- 
school  of  art  for  women,  a  school  of  art  for  amateurs,  a  school 
for  wood-engraving,  and  a  school  for  telegraphy.  The 
evening-school  of  science  embraces  fifteen  classes,  develop- 
ing the  ordinary  common-school  education  in  the  direction  of 
mathematics,  mechanics,  engineering  and  chemistry.  The 
night-school  of  art  embraces  classes  in  drawing,  —  rudimental, 
mechanical,  architectural,  form  and  figure,  perspective  and 
ornamental, —  decorative  designing,  and  modeling  in  clay. 
Lectures  to  the  classes  are  also  given.  The  science-classes 
were  attended  in  1882  by  nearly  a  thousand  students,  and  the 
art-classes  in  the  same  year  by  upwards  of  twelve  hundred 
students.  This  institute,  as  everyone  knows,  is  the  princely 
benefaction  of  Mr.  Peter  Cooper.  The  Mechanics'  Institute, 
of  Cincinnati,  established  in  1829,  has  similar  aims,  and  pur- 
sues similar  methods.  It  sustains  a  reading-room,  courses 
of  lectures,  evening  drawing-schools,  evening-classes  in 
geometry  and  mathematics,  and  in  elementary  physics  and 
mechanics,  lectures,  and  meetings  for  the  discussion  of 
questions  in  science.  Such  institutions  indicate  the  natural 
tendency  of  general  industrial  education  to  reach  out  into 
more  specific  technical  training,  —  a  training  which  will  fit 
pupils  for  practical  success  in  special  crafts  and  trades. 

The  Women's  Institute  of  Technical  Design,  New  York ; 
the  Society  for  Decorative  Art,  New  York ;  the  Young  Wo- 
men's Christian  Association,  New  York,  —  and  other  similar 
associations,  present  interesting  experiments  towards  sup- 


INDUSTRIAL    TRAINING-SCHOOLS.  543 

plying  the  need  of  advanced  industrial  training  for  young 
women. 

These  private  philanthropies  have  had  a  sufficient  length  of 
life,  and  have  secured  sufficient  results  to  call  for  the  State's 
action  in  this  direction.  The  State  has,  some  time  since, 
moved  tentatively  towards  the  taking  up  of  evening  instruc- 
tion. Night-schools  of  one  kind  and  another  have  been  for 
many  years  a  recognized  branch  of  the  work  of  our  boards  of 
education  in  many  cities.  For  the  most  part,  however,  these 
night-schools  have  aimed  at  supplementing  the  work  of  the 
day-schools  foi  a  lower  class  of  children  than  these  schools 
reached, — the  waifs  of  our  great  cities.  The  instruction 
offered  has,  therefore,  been  rather  of  the  nature  of  a  rudiment- 
ary general  education  than  of  an  advanced  industrial  educa- 
tion. In  a  number  of  instances,  however,  night-schools  have 
been  provided  for  this  need  which  we  are  now  considering, 
and  their  result  has  been  fairly  encouraging. 

In  two  of  the  evening-schools  of  St.  Louis,  in  which  there 
is  an  average  attendance  of  about  200,  the  branches  taught 
are  such  as  form  an  elementary  polytechnic  course  of  studies. 
Boston  had  six  evening  drawing-schools  in  1880,  with  an 
average  attendance  of  about  300.  The  instruction  that  it 
offered  gave  a  choice  of  four  courses,  —  freehand  design, 
machine-drawing,  building  construction  and  ship-building. 
Worcester  reports  evening  drawing-schools,  consisting  of 
beginners  and  advanced  classes  in  both  freehand  and  instru- 
mental drawing,  —  the  students  being,  for  the  most  part, 
young  men  and  women  engaged  in  mechanical  or  artistic 
callings,  or  in  teaching. 

IV.  TRADE-SCHOOLS.  — When  all  such  general  instruction 
and  training  has  been  secured,  there  will  still  remain  the  need 
of  yet  more  specific  technical  education,  for  the  best  success 
of  individual  handicraftsmen  and  for  the  general  prosperity 
of  an  industrial  people.  Trades  must  be  thoroughly  taught, 
at  once  as  to  the  principles  involved  and  the  methods  used 
in  them.  Trade-schools  may  be  supplied  in  many  ways. 
Workingmen  themselves,  when  they  have  awakened  to  the 
importance  of  such  schools,  may  provide  them.  As  the  old- 


544  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

time  guilds  supplied  such  trade-training,  so  our  modern  trades- 
unions  might  supply  it,  partially,  at  least.  They  have  among 
them  the  men  who  are  competent  to  act  as  instructors  in  such 
trade-schools.  The  means  also  need  not  be  lacking,  as  such 
schools  could  be  made,  from  the  start,  either  partially  or 
wholly  self-sustaining.  By  founding  such  schools  themselves, 
our  unions  would  secure  the  control  of  the  supply  for  their 
several  trades,  and  thus  would  win  a  power  far  superior  to 
that  which  they  now  possess.  There  are,  however,  as  yet 
very  few  indications  that  workingmen  are  awakening  to  the 
importance  of  such  action.  An  association  of  clockmakers  in 
Paris  provides  for  the  technical  training  of  apprentices  ;  and 
a  plumbers'  union  in  our  own  country  arranges  for  the 
instruction  of  lads  who  are  looking  forward  to  becoming 
plumbers;  but  there  are  not  many  examples  of  this  wise 
action  discernible. 

Trade-Schools  Founded  by  Private  Philanthropy.  —  Pri- 
vate philanthropy  has  already  moved  to  supply  such  schools, 
especially  in  our  own  land. 

The  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hamp- 
ton, Va.,  is  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of 
combining  general  education  with  industrial  training,  carried 
to  a  point  of  thorough  technical  mastery.  It  owes  its  foun- 
dation to  the  large-minded  and  large-hearted  idea  of  Gen- 
eral Armstrong,  who,  when  his  duties  in  the  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion were  ended,  looked  about  him  for  the  next  great  work 
to  be  done  for  the  country,  and  singled  out  the  education  of 
the  race  just  emancipated  in  the  South  as  his  mission.  The 
problem  was  that  of  giving  the  blacks  a  general  education, 
and  of  training  them  in  habits  of  work,  while  teaching  them 
the  mastery  of  trades  in  which  self-support  might  be  won. 
From  this  germ-thought  there  has  slowly  grown  the  splendid 
institution  which,  by  the  shores  of  the  Hampton  Roads,  prac- 
tically solves  the  problem  of  industrial  education.  In  this 
school,  Negroes  and  Indians  of  both  sexes  are  well  grounded 
in  a  general  education,  and  effectively  trained  in  various 
crafts.  Students  are  admitted  between  fourteen  and  twenty- 
five  years  of  age.  The  time  devoted  each  day  to  manual 


PRIVATE    PHILANTHROPY. 


545 


work  is  arranged  according  to  occupations.  Those  engaged 
in  farming  are  employed  either  half-time  or  wholly  for  four 
days,  with  two  whole  days  for  their  studies.  The  depart- 
ments cover  farming,  wheel-wrighting,  saw-mill  and  wood- 
working, engineering,  the  work  of  the  machine-shop,  knitting, 
printing,  shoe-making,  carpentry,  turning,  harness-making, 
sewing,  tailoring,  cooking  and  household-work.  The  work 
of  these  various  shops  is  made  to  contribute  substantially  to 
the  support  of  the  institution, — thus  insuring  sufficiently  good 
workmanship  to  command  a  market  for  the  products  of  the 
institution.  Pretty  much  all  the  work  required  for  maintain- 
ing and  adding  to  the  institute  is  done  on  the  ground  by 
the  students.  The  school  numbers  about  one  thousand 
officers  and  students.  The  success  of  the  work  in  the  general 
development  of  manhood  and  womanhood  is  best  indicated 
by  the  constantly  increasing  demand  for  its  graduates  as 
teachers ;  thus  effectively  and  practically  disproving  the 
prejudice  that  so  much  training  of  the  hand  interferes  with 
the  best  training  of  the  head.  The  support  of  the  school  is 
provided  for  in  part  by  grants  from  the  State  of  Virginia,  but 
chiefly  by  the  philanthropic  contributions  of  its  Northern 
friends,  filled  out  by  the  income  from  the  trade-shops  of  the 
institution. 

One  notable  feature  of  the  schools  is  the  fact  that  the 
youths  who  are  found  indisposed  to  more  purely  intellectual 
studies  have  their  energies  turned  into  practical  channels. 
The  greater  part  of  their  training  is  made  industrial. 

Of  trade-schools  pure  and  simple,  the  New  York  Trade- 
School  presents  a  fine  illustration.  This  was  founded  five 
years  ago,  by  the  wise  philanthropy  of  Colonel  R.  T.  Auch- 
muty.  His  aim  was  to  secure,  through  day  and  evening- 
classes,  thorough  instruction  in  the  principles,  and  as  thor- 
ough practice  in  the  methods,  of  some  of  the  more  important 
trades ;  and,  while  not  making  the  school  a  charity,  to  put 
the  cost  of  its  education  at  a  figure  low  enough  to  enable  any 
average  young  man  to  avail  himself  of  its  advantages.  Even- 
ing instruction  is  offered  in  plumbing,  gas-fitting,  brick-laying, 
plastering,  stone-cutting,  fresco-painting,  wood-carving  and 

(35) 


546  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

carpentry.  Day-classes  are  open  for  instruction  in  plumbing, 
brick-laying  and  wood-carving.  The  instruction  is  at  once 
scientific  and  practical.  Skilled  workmen  in  the  various 
trades  are  the  instructors.  The  school-shops  provide  every 
facility  for  the  work  carried  on  in  them.  The  full  course  in 
plumbing  and  gas-fitting,  for  example,  which  includes  the 
day-school  and  evening-classes,  reaches  over  three  months, 
and  can  be  had  for  $35.00.  The  evening-school  in  carpen- 
try, which  has  three  sessions  a  week,  from  October  25th  to 
April  6th,  charges  $15.00  for  the  full  course.  The  attend- 
ance of  the  schools  has  steadily  increased  from  30  in  the 
«  first  year  to  88  in  the  second,  207  in  the  third,  298  in  the 
fourth,  and  304  in  the  fifth  year.  The  results,  according 
to  the  latest  report  of  the  school,  "have  proved  the  success 
of  what  was  at  first  an  experiment  in  industrial  education. 
Many  young  men  who  came  to  the  schools  without  knowing 
how  to  work  are  now  skilled  mechanics,  receiving  high 
wages."  Perhaps  the  best  testimony  to  the  success  of  the 
school  is  the  changed  attitude  of  some  of  the  trades-unions 
towards  it.  How  widespread  a  want  is  met  by  such  a  school 
is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  fact  that  its  students  have  come 
not  only  from  surrounding  towns,  but  from  distant  States. 
No  one  fact  could  more  strikingly  illustrate  the  appreciation 
shown  towards  this  school  than  the  statement  of  the  founder 
of  the  school,  that,  at  the  end  of  five  years,  it  can  be  said 
that  "  there  has  not  been  a  bit  of  wanton  injury  done  to  the 
building  or  its  tools,  —  not  even  a  pencil-mark  on  the  walls." 
Mr.  Auchmuty  speaks  in  private  with  the  greatest  satisfaction 
of  the  practical  success  of  the  work.  He  says  :  "  I  have  now 
a  record  of  many  young  men,  who,  to  use  the  expression  of 
more  than  one  of  them,  owe  their  success  in  life  to  the 
school." 

Trade-Schools  Founded  by  Business  Houses  and  Commu- 
nities.—  In  nearly  all  the  great  industrial  centres  of  Great 
Britain,  —  London,  Glasgow,  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Old- 
ham,  Leeds,  Bradford,  Huddersfield,  Keighley,  Sheffield, 
Nottingham,  Birmingham,  etc.,  —  more  or  less  flourishing 
schools  of  science  and  art,  of  various  grades,  together  with 


TRADE-SCHOOLS    IN    ENGLAND. 


547 


many  art  and  science-classes  exist ;  some  of  these  schools 
developing  into  genuine'  trade-schools.  Such,  for  example, 
are  the  schools  established  by  Sir  W.  Armstrong,  at  Elswick, 
by  the  London  &  Northwestern  Railway  Co.,  at  Crewe,  and 
those  of  Messrs.  Mather  &  Platt,  Salford,  in  connection  with 
their  engineering  works.  This  latter  serves  as  a  specimen 
of  these  schools.  It  is  a  private  technical  evening-school, 
established  and  supported  by  the  firm  for  the  benefit  of  their 
apprentices.  The  drawings  are  of  work  actually  in  progress 
in  the  establishment.  The  teacher  lectures  upon  them,  ex- 
plains them,  and  makes  calculations  concerning  them  ;  and 
the  boys,  the  next  day,  at  the  works,  see  the  very  things 
which  they  have  been  hearing  about  in  the  shop.  Everything 
required,  patterns  and  models,  is  here  shown  in  full  size. 
The  teachers  are  the  draughtsmen  in  the  establishment.  The 
boys  are  not  allowed  to  copy  drawings,  everything  being 
drawn  on  a  different  scale  from  a  flat  copy.  The  heads  of 
this  establishment  consider  that  this  school  has  been  "an 
incalculable  advantage." 

The  Bradford  Technical  College  is  an  illustration  of  wise 
action  on  the  part  of  an  industrial  town.  Its  foundation  was 
the  result  of  the  public  sentiment  in  the  business  community  of 
Bradford,  as  to  the  necessity  of  greater  technical  knowledge 
in  the  various  industries  on  which  the  prosperity  of  the  dis- 
trict depends.  The  college  was  founded  to  secure  such  in- 
struction in  the  principles  underlying  these  industries.  It  has 
developed  into  departments  for  pure  art,  designing,  weaving, 
chemistry  and  dyeing,  mechanical  engineering,  and  the 
sciences  connected  with  the  building  and  other  mechanical 
trades.  There  are  mechanical  and  dyeing  laboratories, 
weaving-shops,  and  mechanical  workshops.  There  is  also 
a  handsome  lecture-hall,  capable  of  holding  six  hundred  per- 
sons, and  a  large  museum  for  textiles,  raw  materials,  natural 
objects,  etc.,  and,  finally,  a  large,  well-furnished  reading- 
room.  The  art  department  is  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Wal- 
ter Smith,  well  known  to  us  in  our  country  as  the  art-director 
of  the  State  Schools  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  Normal  Art 
College,  in  Boston.  The  textile  department  covers  in- 


54$  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

struction  in  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics  of  every  de- 
scription, including  the  nature  and  properties  of  the  raw 
material,  and  the  application  of  design  to  woven  fabrics. 
Few  weaving-schools  in  any  country  are  so  well  equipped 
with  all  the  best  appliances  of  instruction,  or  so  largely  at- 
tended. Nearly  three  hundred  students  attend  these  classes. 
The  majority  of  those  who  come  in  the  evening  are  working- 
men  or  over-lookers,  while  the  day-classes  are  attended  by 
the  sons  of  manufacturers.  In  the  chemical  and  dyeing  de- 
partments, students  are  grounded  in  the  principles  of  chemis- 
try, which  they  apply  to  the  investigation  of  the  properties 
and  uses  of  the  various  dyeing  materials,  by  analysis  and 
by  practical  experiments.  In  the  engineering  and  machine 
departments,  the  theory  of  the  class-room  is  united  with  the 
practical  experience  of  the  bench,  laths  and  forge.  It  is 
questionable  whether  there  is  any  school-workshop  in  any 
country — so  say  the  Royal  Commissioners  —  as  well  fitted  up 
with  modern  mechanical  tools  and  appliances.  In  the  gen- 
eral science  department,  there  are  classes  in  practical,  plane 
and  solid  geometry,  mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  steam> 
applied  mechanics  and  machine  instruction.  The  especial 
feature  of  the  college  is  the  day-school,  in  which  there  are 
one  hundred  and  thirty  pupils,  whose  ages  vary  from  twelve 
to  seventeen.  This  department  acts  as  a  feeder  to  the  col- 
lege, preparing  the  students  for  the  technical  classes.  The 
curriculum  of  the  school  covers  :  (i.)  a  general  course,  in- 
cluding English,  mathematics,  mechanics,  chemistry,  physics, 
drawing  (freehand,  model  and  geometrical),  and  machine 
instruction  ;  (2.)  a  technical  course,  in  which  the  pupil  may 
select  a  line  of  study  from  the  following  branches  :  mechan- 
ical engineering,  art,  pattern-making,  designing,  weaving 
and  dyeing  ;  (3.)  languages,  including  French,  German  and 
Latin.  The  pupils  who  are  studying  technological  subjects 
receive  one  or  two  lessons  a  week  from  the  various  specialists, 
and  spend,  in  addition,  several  hours  each  week  in  the  weav- 
ing-shops, workshops,  dye-houses  or  art-rooms,  as  the  case 
may  be.  An  important  feature  in  connection  with  the  day- 
school  is  the  scholarship  scheme,  whereby,  from  a  fund  sub- 


TRADE-SCHOOLS    IN    FRANCE    AND    GERMANY.  549 

scribed  by  manufacturers,  merchants  and  others,  about  sixty 
boys  of  the  artisan  population  are  taken  from  the  elementary 
schools  of  the  town,  by  competition,  and  receive  two  years' 
instruction  in  the  school,  free  of  charge.  All  the  instructors 
in  the  college  and  school  are  of  recognized  eminence  in  their 
departments.  In  the  several  departments,  there  are  altogether 
nearly  nine  hundred  students. 

On  the  Continent,  there  are  many  similar  institutions.  One 
of  the  best  illustrations  of  private  sagacity  in  this  respect  is 
the  Ecole  professtonnale,  of  the  printing  establishment  under 
the  management  of  Messieurs  Chaix  et  Cie.  This  school  was 
founded  by  the  heads  of  the  establishment,  to  train  skilled 
workmen  for  that  establishment.  The  foundation  of  the  school 
is  laid  in  a  special  primary  course,  for  those  whose  previous 
schooling  had  been  insufficient.  Upon  this  foundation,  there 
is  laid  a  technical  course,  which  covers  grammar  and  compo- 
sition, reading  proofs  and  correcting  for  the  press,  the  study 
of  different  kinds  of  types  and  engraving,  and  the  reading  and 
composing  of  English,  German,  Latin  and  Greek,  —  in  the 
latter  case,  from  a  purely  typographical  point  of  view,  with- 
out any  attempt  to  understand  or  translate.  Finally,  it  com- 
pletes a  supplementary  course,  which  includes  the  history  of 
printing,  simple  notions  of  economics,  a  little  mechanics  and 
physics  and  chemistry.  In  the  latter  field,  the  materials  dealt 
with  in  the  business  are  specially  considered, —  such  as  acids, 
oxides,  oils,  carbons,  soda,  etc.  This  school  has  some  thirty 
apprentices  connected  with  it.  The  apprenticeship  lasts  four 
years. 

In  Germany,  we  find  schools  for  miners  and  for  workers 
in  iron  and  steel,  founded  or  maintained  by  business  associa- 
tions. In  several  of  the  more  important  industrial  centres 
of  the  Continent,  there  exists  societies,  such  as  the  Societes 
industrielles,  of  Mulhouse,  Rheims  and  Amiens  :  the  Societe 
d '  cnseignement  •professionnel  du  Rhone,  which  has  its  head 
quarters  at  Lyons  ;  and  the  Niederoesterreichischer  Gewerbe- 
Verein,  of  Austria.  These  associations  are  supported  mainly 
by  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  district  to  which 
their  operations  are  restricted.  They  are  also  further  aided 


55°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

from  the  municipalities,  and  sometimes  from  the  State.  The 
society  in  Lyons  has  established  numerous  evening-classes  for 
elementary  and  technical  instruction.  The  South  Austrian 
Trade  Society,  which  has  its  central  office  in  Vienna,  has 
organized  technical  day  and  evening-schools  for  operatives  of 
every  grade.  These  have  now  passed  under  State  control, 
and  receive  subventions  from  the  government.  Chemnitz, 
in  Saxony,  has  achieved  an  enviable  reputation  for  its  large- 
minded  and  large-hearted  public  spirit  in  connection  with 
industrial  education  ;  and  the  results  have  been  full  of  encour- 
agement,—  Chemnitz  having  been  rapidly  built  up,  in  conse- 
quence of  these  schools.  Crefield  is  another  town  which  has 
followed  a  similar  policy,  with  similar  results. 

Our  country  furnishes  some  examples  of  the  same  wise 
policy  on  the  part  of  individual  employers  and  business  corpo- 
rations,—  though,  as  yet,  we  have  scarcely  any  parallel  case 
of  a  municipality  devoting  itself  to  statesmanlike  measures 
on  behalf  of  industrial  education.  The  establishment  founded 
by  Mr.  Richard  M.  Hoe,  so  widely  known  through  the  coun- 
try, has  sought  a  high  degree  of  skill  and  intelligence  and 
of  conscientious  work,  such  as  is  not  easily  secured  in  these 
days  of  nominal  apprenticeships.  It  has  need  of  men  who, 
beginning  early,  purpose  to  devote  their  whole  lives  to  the 
acquisition  of  technical  skill,  and  to  its  broadening  by  a  liberal 
intellectual  training.  Two  or  three  hundred  boys  are  required 
in  the  establishment.  These  have  been  carefully  selected  with 
reference  to  their  capacity  and  dispositions.  As  soon  as 
secured,  the  firm  begins  to  educate  them.  It  provides  an 
evening-school,  where  the  common-school  education  is  sup- 
plemented, with  special  reference  to  the  practical  needs  of 
life.  Everything  is  provided  by  the  firm,  —  rooms,  teachers, 
books  and  materials ;  but  attendance  is  compulsory.  The 
boys  are  chiefly  trained  in  mathematics  and  mechanical  draw- 
ing. Each  boy's  special  capacity  or  tendency  is  considered 
in  determining  his  particular  course.  If  he  has  a  gift  for 
mechanical  drawing,  it  is  specially  cultivated  to  fit  him  for 
work  in  the  designing  department ;  and  thus  with  other  facul- 
ties; the  aim  being  so  to  train  each  lad  that  he  shall  have  a 


SCHOOLS    SUPPORTED    BY    THE    STATE.  551 

chance  to  make  the  most  out  of  himself,  and  thus  the  most 
for  the  firm.  Advancement  is  made  wholly  upon  merit,  —  no 
time  being  fixed  for  continuing  in  any  stage  of  work.  A 
practical  application  of  the  principles  inculcated  in  the  night- 
school  is  secured  in  the  work  of  the  establishment  by  day. 
As  most  of  the  boys  live  far  from  the  factory,  the  firm  pro- 
vides them  with  a  plain,  plentiful  and  wholesome  supper. 

The  Carriage-builders' National  Association  has  established 
a  technical  school  for  carriage-mechanics,  which  was  opened 
in  the  fall  of  1880.  .It  is  located  at  214  East  Thirty-fourth 
street,  in  connection  with  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art- 
Schools.  Three  evening-lessons  are  given  each  week.  In 
addition  to  the  class-instruction,  it  provides  lectures  upon 
mechanical  topics,  a  technical  library  and  museum.  It  gives 
students  who  have  shown  special  aptitude  and  application  a 
printed  certificate,  —  a  sort  of  diploma, — which  must  be  in- 
valuable as  a  security  of  work.  Its  pupils  have  come  from 
a  wide  area, — from  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Iowa,  Massachusetts 
and  Canada,  —  and  have  represented  the  various  departments 
of  work  in  the  industry.  The  tuition-fee  is  placed  at  the 
nominal  rate  of  five  dollars  for  the  season. 

Trade-Schools  Founded  or  Supported  by  the  State.  —  Paris 
has  thirteen  technical  schools,  which  turn  out  young  men 
possessing  sufficient  knowledge  of  a  trade,  both  theoretical 
and  practical,  to  enable  them  to  earn  their  livelihood.  Pupils 
must  be  thirteen  years  old,  and  must  pass  an  examination  in 
order  to  enter.  The  period  of  training  extends  over  three 
years.  During  the  first  twelve  months,  the  pupil  remains  a 
certain  time  in  each  of  the  different  workshops  representing 
the  respective  branches  of  trade.  Thus  an  insight  is  obtained 
into  each  craft,  and  the  disposition  of  the  student  is  devel- 
oped, while  his  abilities  are  being  educated.  Four  hours  a 
day  are  spent  in  the  different  classes,  where  French,  English, 
history,  grammar,  chemistry,  geography,  drawing,  etc.,  are 
taught.  In  the  first  division  only  four  hours  daily  are  de- 
voted to  manual  labor  in  the  workshops,  and  two  hours  to 
books.  The  schools  have  half  a  dozen  shops,  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  able,  technical  men.  There  is  a  modeling- 


55 2  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

room,  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  fitting-room,  wood  and  metal- 
turneries,  and  several  carpenters'  and  joiners'  shops,  where 
every  branch  of  these  trades  can  be  learned.  It  is  proposed 
to  open  a  practical  college  in  each  arrondisscmcnt ,  and  work- 
shops are  to  be  attached  to  each  of  the  municipal  schools. 
France  has  developed  complete  apprenticeship  schools,  as 
notably  those  of  La  Villette,  in  Paris,  and  Havre.  The 
National  Government  and  various  municipal  authorities  have 
combined  in  founding  these  schools  in  different  towns  of 
France.  The  government  commission,  appointed  in  1881, 
has  drawn  up  a  programme  for  handicraft-schools  through 
the  country. 

Objections  have  been  raised  against  such  apprenticeship- 
schools  by  practical  men  in  England  ;  but  the  French  appear 
to  be,  upon  the  whole,  satisfied  with  the  progress  that  has  been 
made  through  them. 

In  our  own  country,  there  is  not  a  single  trade-school  for  the 
rank  and  file  of  labor  which  owes  its  existence  to  any  munici- 
pal or  State  government,  or  to  the  National  Government.  Con- 
gress has  indeed  made  large  land-grants  in  aid  of  industrial 
education ;  but,  whatever  may  have  been  its  intentions,  these 
grants  have  practically  resulted  in  building  up  agricultural 
schools  and  schools  for  higher  technical  training  in  a  few 
semi-professional  lines.  This  has  been  quite  natural,  under 
the  circumstances,  since  agriculture  and  engineering  have 
been  the  most  imperative  necessities  of  our  new  country  ;  but, 
nonetheless  the  fact  remains  that  we  have  not  a  single  State 
trade-school  for  the  average  workingman. 

V.  HIGHER  TECHNICAL  SCHOOLS  FOR  FOREMEN  AND  MAN- 
AGERS.— A  higher  grade  of  technical  schools  for  the  training 
of  lads  fitted  to  become  foremen,  becomes  a  necessity  in  the 
development  of  industrial  education.  Europe  has  recognized 
this  need,  and  taken  steps  to  meet  it. 

France  made  experiments  in  this  direction  some  time  ago  ; 
but  these  experiments  amounted  to  little  until  their  reorgani- 
zation within  the  last  generation.  Among  the  good  examples 
of  schools  for  foremen  are  those  of  Winterthur,  in  Switzerland, 
Chemnitz,  in  Saxonv',  and  Komotau,  in  Austria,  and  the  Ecolc 


SECONDARY    TECHNICAL    SCHOOLS.  553 

des  Mines,  at  St.  Etienne.  The  theoretic  instruction  in  these 
schools  is  similar  in  character  and  also  in  grade  to  that  of  the 
great  polytechnic  schools.  Great  attention  is  paid  in  them  to 
practical  instruction  in  laboratories  and  workshops,  which  is 
not  always  the  case  in  the  polytechnic  schools.  A  begin- 
ning has  been  made  in  Prussia  toward  the  establishment  of 
such  secondary  technical  schools.  The  Industrie  Schulcn,  in 
Bavaria,  corresponds  to  this  second  grade  of  technical  high 
schools,  giving  both  theoretical  and  practical  instruction  in 
some  cases, — the  latter  being  highly  specialized,  as  a  prepar- 
ation either  for  direct  entrance  on  an  industrial  career  or 
for  further  study  in  the  polytechnic  school.  France  is  es- 
tablishing technical  schools  of  this  type  all  through  the 
country,  a  good  example  of  which  is  found  in  the  school  at 
Rheims. 

This  school  was  established  in  1875,  as  the  result  of  the 
investigation  of  a  municipal  commission,  composed  of  the 
leading  business  men  of  the  city,  concerning  the  need  of 
higher  industrial  education.  The  school  is  housed  in  a  build- 
ing which  has  cost  $120,000.  Boys  enter  at  about  thirteen,  and 
continue  for  three  years.  During  the  first  two  years,  all  the 
pupils  pass  through  the  same  course  of  theoretical  and  practi- 
cal instruction.  In  the  third  year,  boys  are  divided  into  sec- 
tions, according  to  the  aptitude  displayed  by  them  during 
the  previous  years.  The  classification  is  made  according  to 
the  different  pursuits  carried  on  in  Rheims  and  the  neigh- 
borhood, —  manufactures,  mechanics,  commerce,  agricul- 
ture, etc. 

The  workshops  and  laboratories  are  large,  airy  and  well- 
lighted  ;  and  their  character  will  be  sufficiently  indicated  by  a 
description  of  one  of  the  workshops. 

The  weaving  and  spinning-sheds  contain  a  carding-engine,  a  drawing- 
frame,  a  spinning-frame  with  forty  spindles,  a  warping-machine,  nine  small 
pattern-weaving  looms,  four  jacquard  looms,  a  punching  and  card-cutting 
machine,  and  four  power-looms,  each  of  a  different  type,  and  of  the  most 
recent  construction.  In  this  department,  the  student  is  able,  practically,  to 
apply  his  theoretical  instruction  to  the  production  of  the  various  textile  manu- 
factures of  Rheims.  He  can,  in  fact,  spin  and  weave  the  wool  he  has  him- 
self washed,  carded,  dyed  and  prepared;  and  can,  moreover,  practice  each 


554  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

operation  in  the  school  with  similar  plant  to  that  which  he  would  find  in  the 
regular  factory.  This  department  is  provided  with  a  large  collection  of  woven 
fabrics  and  samples  of  raw  materials. 

The  school  also  provides  thorough  instruction  in  drawing, 
and,  yet  further,  has  an  admirable  school-museum.  It  has 
about  two  hundred  pupils,  and  has  a  large  number  of  free 
studentships. 

The  schools  of  which  the  Rheims  school  is  a  type  lead  up 
to  the  Ecole  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  at  Chalons-sur-Marne,  or 
the  Ecole  Centrale,  or  the  Ecole  Poly  technique.  Such  tech- 
nical high  schools  for  foremen  are  practically  provided  in 
some  parts  of  England,  in  the  schools  of  art  and  science 
which  have  of  late  grown  into  such  large  proportions  in  cer- 
tain industrial  centres,  —  of  which  examples  have  already 
been  given  in  other  connections. 

VI.  POLYTECHNIC  SCHOOLS. — There  will  still  remain  the 
need  of  yet  higher  technical  schools,  for  the  instruction  and 
training  of  those  who  expect  to  become  heads  of  industrial 
establishments,  superintendents,  managers,  etc.,  and  for  the 
education  of  men  for  the  professional  branches  of  business, 
industrial  chemistry,  engineering,  etc. 

Such  colleges  have  existed  for  some  time  in  Europe,  in 
the  well-known  Poly  technique  Schools,  to  which  she  owes  so 
much  of  her  industrial  prosperity. 

As  already  indicated,  greater  provision  has  been  made  for 
such  higher  technical  training  in  our  country  than  for  any 
other  department  of  industrial  education.  We  have  begun 
at  the  top  instead  of  at  the  bottom,  and  have  put  a  roof  on 
a  structure  that  has  no  foundation. 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  Boston,  in 
addition  to  teaching  mining,  mechanical  and  civil-engineer- 
ing, provides  instruction  in  the  mechanic  arts  to  students 
who  come  from  the  ordinary  public  schools  at  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  secures  them  a  two  years'  course  in  technical 
training.  This  institution,  one  of  the  most  completely  ap- 
pointed in  the  country,  offers  for  this  class  of  students  courses 
in  machine-construction,  pattern-making,  moulding,  forging, 
etc.  But  as  the  fees  are  $200  per  annum,  the  average  work- 


HIGH    SCHOOLS    OF    ART. 


555 


ingman's  son  is  practically  shut  out  from  the  benefits  of  this 
admirable  institution.  The  Worcester  Free  School  confines 
its  education  principally  to 'the  theory  and  practice  of  me- 
chanical engineering. 

The  Stevens  Institute,  of  Hoboken,  was  founded  by  Mr. 
E.  A.  Stevens,  as  an  institution  for  thorough  technical  and 
scientific  training  in  mechanical  engineering,  in  which  it 
stands  very  high.  The  Cornell  University  provides,  in  addi- 
tion to  a  general  liberal  education,  technical  schools  in 
agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  civil  engineering  and  mining 
engineering.  The  mechanic  arts  are  taught  experimentally, 
by  the  aid  of  a  brass  and  iron-foundry,  blacksmith-shop  and 
shops  for  pattern-making.  Purdue  University,  Indiana,  sup- 
plies another  excellent  illustration  of  a  high  school  of  indus- 
trial education,  as  does  the  Kansas  University. 

VII.  HIGH  SCHOOLS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ART.  —  So  many 
industries  really  enter  the  field  of  applied  art,  that  it  is  be- 
coming increasingly  necessary  to  foster  a  higher  development 
of  artistic  tastes  and  powers  than  the  lower-grade  schools  can 
secure .  Every  country  is  feeling  the  need  of  increasing  the 
supply  of  industrial  artists.  , 

The  provision  made  for  this  need,  in  the  great  art-schools 
of  Europe,  is  comparatively  familiar  to  us  in  this  country ; 
and,  as  space  is  shrinking,  no  detailed  reference  to  it  will 
here  be  made.  We  are  naturally  backward  in  this  respect. 
Such  high  schools  of  art  can  only  be  expected  to  arise  in 
sufficient  numbers  as  our  general  system  of  education  increas- 
ingly emphasizes  industrial  art.  We  have,  however,  a  few 
such  schools  already;  as,  e.  g.,  the  Philadelphia  School  of 
Design  for  Women,  the  Normal  Art-School  of  Massachusetts, 
in  Boston,  the  Fine-Art  School  connected  with  the  Gallery  of 
Fine  Arts,  in  Boston,  and  the  Metropolitan  School  of  Art,  in 
New  York. 

The  constant  tendency  in  these  schools  is  for  pupils  of  any 
ability  to  become  ambitious  of  turning  out  artists,  of  whom 
there  is  already  quite  an  ample  supply,  of  one  sort  and 
another,  in  the  country.  These  schools  should  keep  strenu- 
ouslv  before  them  that  nobler  aim,  with  reference  to  the 


556  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

country  at  large,  of  imbuing  the  artisan  with  the  spirit  of  the 
artist. 

VIII.  A  CENTRAL  MODEL-SCHOOL  OF  INDUSTRIAL  SCIENCE 
AND  ART.  — What  is  needed,  over  and  above  such  scattered 
local  efforts,  is  a  largely  conceived  and  thoroughly  planned 
and  amply  endov/ed  system  for  stimulating  and  guiding  the 
scientific  and  artistic  departments  of  industrial  education  in 
their  higher  stages.  As  already  indicated,  the  Continental 
States  direct,  from  a  central  ministry,  their  systems  of  indus- 
trial education,  —  thus  securing  the  thoroughness  which  other- 
wise might  be  lacking.  What  needs  to  be  done,  and  what  it 
is  possible  to  do,  is  best  seen  in  the  case  of  the  South  Ken- 
sington Museum,  of  England. 

This  famous  institution,  as  every  one  knows,  was  the  out- 
growth of  the  first  World's  Fair,  in  London.  That  interna- 
tional exhibition  revealed  so  clearly  the  inferiority  of  England 
in  all  artistic  industries  as  to  lead  to  this  attempt  to  educate 
the  nation's  workers.  It  includes  a  vast  national  industrial 
museum,  central  schools  for  scientific  and  artistic  instruction, 
and  local  branches  in  various  towns,  through  which  it  guides 
the  industrial  education  of  England.  The  results  of  this  wise 
action,  in  one  generation,  have  been  astonishing.  Whereas, 
in  1851,  England  had  found  herself  at  the  bottom  of  the  list 
of  nations  engaged  in  art-manufactures,  as  soon  thereafter  as 
1867,  in  the  Paris  Exhibition,  she  found  herself  in  the  fore- 
most rank,  having  in  some  lines  distanced  the  most  artistic 
nations. 

There  is  no  question  that  the  chief  factor  in  this  astonishing 
change  was  the  influence  of  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 
Professor  Dresser  is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that  — 

Our  art-schools  and  this  museum  have  exerted  a  more  and  more  powerful 
influence  over  the  manufacturers,  the  designers  and  the  native  buyers  of  our 
productions;  and  the  result  has  been  such  as  to  cause  the  late  Emperor  of  the 
French  to  say,  after  the  International  Exhibition  of  Paris,  in  1867,  that  \vhile 
the  French  had  made  little  progress  during  the  ten  preceding  years,  the 
advancement  of  the  English  in  art,  as  applied  to  industries,  had  been  so  rapid 
that  England  must  be  regarded  as  a  dangerous  rival. 

How  such  an  industrial  revolution  could  be  brought  about 
by  the  founding  of  one  national  institution,  let  the  following 


INDUSTRIAL    MUSEUMS.  557 

facts  as  to  its  progress  tell.  In  1851,  there  were  nineteen 
schools  of  art  in  the  United  Kingdom  ;  now  there  are  over 
one  thousand  schools  of  art  and  art-classes,  and  of  a  much 
higher  standard  of  success  than  in  1851,  while  industrial 
drawing  is  now  taught  in  the  national  schools. 

IX.  INDUSTRIAL  MUSEUMS.  —  Such  a  large  and  thorough 
system  of  industrial  education  needs  to  have  provided  the 
adjunct  of  industrial  museums.  The  need  of  such  museums 
is  obvious.  Seeing  is  understanding,  as  well  as  believing. 
Description  never  makes  the  clear-cut  impression  that  the 
sight  of  an  object  and  the  handling  of  it  creates.  The  tools 
and  machinery  used  in  an  industry  should  be  somewhere  open 
to  examination ;  the  materials  used  in  that  industry  should 
be  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  use,  and  the  articles  pro- 
duced in  the  various  stages  of  production  should  be  on  exhi- 
bition ;  while  models  for  the  young  student  and  workman 
should  be  conveniently  accessible.  Mr.  William  Morris  is  as 
capable  of  giving  an  able  and  authoritative  judgment  upon 
this  matter  as  any  living  man,  and  he  testified  before  the 
Royal  Commissioners  that  he  considered  it  an  absolute  neces- 
sity that  there  should  be  a  collection  of  examples  of  the  manu- 
factures of  each  district,  accessible  in  that  district ;  and  not 
only  specimens  of  that  special  manufacture,  but  selections  of 
beautiful  objects  in  other  manufactures,  which  the  workman 
might  thus  study.  In  his  judgment  each  locality  should, 
therefore,  establish  its  own  museum.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
regarded  it  as  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  great  central 
museum,  to  which  visits  could  be  made,  and  wherein  some 
thorough  study  could  be  carried  on  by  workmen  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country,  —  a  museum  which  should  really 
furnish  all  needful  illustrations  in  the  various  departments  of 
scientific  and  industrial  art. 

The  South  Kensington  Museum  well  illustrates  what  such 
a  great  central  national  museum  should  be  :  — 

The  collections  at  South  Kensington  Museum  now  comprise:  (i.)  Objects 
of  ornamental  art,  as  applied  to  manufactures ;  (2.)  The  National  Art  Library ; 
(3.)  British  pictures,  sculptures  and  engravings;  (4.)  The  Educational 
Library,  with  appliances  and  models;  (5.)  Materials  and  models  for  building 


558  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

and  construction  ;  (6.)  Substances  used  for  food ;  (7.)  Reproduction  bj  means 
of  casting,  electrotype,  and  photography,  of  objects  displaying  the  art-manu- 
factures of  all  nations ;  (8.)  Naval  models. 

The  Museum  of  Ornamental  Art  comprises  upwards  of 
20,000  objects.  The  National  Art  Library  contains  about 
33,000  volumes.  The  Collection  of  British  Pictures  now 
numbers  585  oil-paintings,  and  1,005  water-color  drawings, — 
specimens  of  the  best  British  masters,  nearly  all  contributed 
by  private  individuals  for  the  advancement  of  the  public  art- 
education  of  this  country.  The  Department  of  Sculpture  is 
very  large  and  valuable,  and  consists  chiefly  of  decorative 
sculpture  of  the  Renaissance  period,  in  marble,  stone  and 
terra-cotta,  including  numerous  specimens  of  glazed  terra- 
cotta of  the  fifteenth  century,  known  as  Delia  Robbia  ware. 
The  Educational  Collection  has  now,  by  means  of  voluntary 
contributions  of  the  publishers  of  educational  works,  and  by 
the  aid  of  the  State,  become  a  very  important  branch  of 
the  South  Kensington  Museum;  seeing  that  its  library  con- 
tains upwards  of  20,000  volumes  of  educational  books,  while 
the  collection  of  models  and  appliances  for  educational  pur- 
poses numbers  some  thousands  of  specimens.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Materials  for  Building  and  Construction  comprises 
samples  of  building-stones,  cements,  terra-cottas,  brick  fire- 
proof floors,  ornamental  tiles,  enameled  slate,  specimens  of 
woods  for  construction,  etc. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  popular  appreciation  of  this  museum, 
one  fact  will  suffice.  The  attendance  at  the  museum  increased 
from  104,832  in  1854  to  914,127  in  1874.  In  three  years,  be- 
tween 1869  and  1874,  *ne  attendance  averaged  over  1,000,000 
per  annum.* 

A  fine  example  of  the  local  industrial  museum  is  found  in 
quaint  old  Nuremberg.  Edinburgh  has  also  a  fine  science 
and  art  museum.  The  Industrial  Society  of  Mulhouse  has 
established  such  a  local  museum,  and  the  leading  manufactu- 
rers of  the  place  testify  that  it  has  exerted  a  most  beneficial 

*  The  above  statements  are  drawn  from  the  "  Memorandum  on  the  Formation 
of  the  South  Kensington  Museum,"  by  P.  Cunliffe  Owen,  British  Commis- 
sioner to  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  Philadelphia,  1876. 


COST    OF    INDUSTRIAL    EDUCATION. 


559 


influence  upon  the  industry  of  the  district.  Some  go  so  far  as 
to  say  that  they  cannot  see  how  the  trade  can  prosper  without 
it.  To  the  designer,  it  is  a  constant  source  of  instruction, — 
his  library.  It  cultivates  and  raises  the  taste  of  the  working- 
man,  sharpens  the  wits  of  the  manufacturer,  and  is  a  constant 
register  of  the  relative  progress  of  the  competing  countries. 
It  gives  invaluable  assistance  in  such  lines  as  the  application 
of  historic  styles  to  current  wants. 

In  our  own  country,  the  only  serious  attempt  at  providing 
for  this  need  in  any  local  centre  of  industry  grew  out  of  the 
Centennial  Exhibition  in  Philadelphia.  The  beautiful  Memo- 
rial Hall,  then  erected,  was  subsequently  set  aside  as  an  in- 
dustrial art-museum,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art.  The  museum  is, 
however,  but  poorly  supplied  with  objects,  and  seems  to 
languish  for  want  of  any  real  interest  on  the  part  of  the  city 
or  the  State.  The  foundations  have  not  as  yet  been  laid 
for  our  future  National  Museum  of  Industrial  Art. 

Such  museums  should  themselves  form  a  graduated  series. 
There  should  be  small  school-museums  attached  to  our  public 
schools,  each  city  having  a  central  museum,  from  which  the 
different  ward-schools  could  be  supplied  by  loan  collections. 
Around  these  museums  the  industries  of  each  great  city  might 
gather ;  each  industry  having  its  own  department.  The  vari- 
ous States  should  then  have  their  central  museums,  and  the 
National  Government  its  museum  for  the  common  country. 

X.  COST  OF  SUCH  A  SYSTEM  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCA- 
TION.—  The  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  such  an  elaborate 
system  of  industrial  education  is,  of  course,  its  immense  expen- 
siveness.  It  is  obvious,  without  entering  into  any  detail,  that 
for  the  development  of  such  a  large  system,  vast  sums  of 
money  will  have  to  be  expended ;  yet  this  should  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  such  a  beneficent  reform.  Chemnitz,  in  Saxony, 
which  has  developed,  perhaps,  more  extensively  than  almost 
any  other  Continental  town  a  local  system  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, is  taxed  more  heavily  than  any  city  o/ Germany,  with 
one  exception ;  yet  the  burden  is  cheerfully  borne,  because 
the  people  have  learned  the  pecuniary  value  of  their  system 


560  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

of  industrial  training.  Situated  amid  great  natural  resources, 
its  life  was  sluggish  and  its  prosperity  scant,  until  the  foun- 
dations of  this  system  were  laid.  Now  it  teems  with  schools 
of  industry,  in  which  weaving,  architecture,  agriculture,  me- 
chanical arts  and  miscellaneous  crafts  are  thoroughly  taught, 
—  each  one  contributing  directly  to  build  up  the  town.  It  flour- 
ishes upon  this  basis  of  wise  outlay  for  educational  purposes. 
The  manufacturing  cities  of  other  countries  are  discovering 
that  their  specialties  are  being  produced  cheaply  and  artisti- 
cally in  Chemnitz.  Already  Nottingham  has  yielded  to  it 
the  front  rank  in  the  production  and  sale  of  gloves.  Taxa- 
tion for  pauperism,  disease  and  crime  is  reduced  proportion- 
ately to  the  increase  of  taxation  for  education  ;  and  the  citi- 
zens, upon  the  whole,  believe  that  they  make  by  the  exchange. 
We  have  only  need  in  this  country  to  examine  the  statistics  of 
public  taxation  and  of  private  charity,  necessitated  by  our 
problems  of  pauperism  and  vice  and  crime,  to  realize  that 
such  an  outlay  as  would  be  necessitated  for  a  thorough  system 
of  industrial  education  would  be  most  economical.  It  is  a 
notorious  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  our  criminals  are  gener- 
ally uneducated,  and  that  a  still  larger  portion  of  them  have 
lacked  any  adequate  training  whereby  they  could  secure  their 
self-support.  Dr.  Wines  reported  that  in  Baden,  while  only 
four  per  cent,  of  prisoners  are  unable  to  read  when  received, 
fifty  per  cent,  have  not  learned  a  trade.  Such  a  system 
•would  also  develop  the  resources  of  the  country  in  a  manner 
transcending  our  present  imagination  ;  and,  in  the  aggregate 
•wealth  thus  created,  the  expenditures  for  industrial  education 
would  be  amply  compensated.  A  nation  which,  while  pay- 
ing off  its  national  debt  in  a  manner  absolutely  unprecedented 
in  history,  is  yet  accumulating  a  surplus  revenue  which  its 
statesmen  ( ?)  do  not  know  how  to  use,  cannot  well  plead 
poverty  as  the  excuse  for  not  laying  the  foundation  of  a 
system  of  industrial  education  commensurate  with  its  destined 
greatness.  Better  far  such  a  system  of  fortification  than  the- 
most  elaborate  coast  defences. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE    LAND    QUESTION. 

MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  QUESTION  —  FIRST    PRINCIPLES  —  THE  LAND-OWNER 

THE  ABSOLUTE  MASTER  OF  MEN  WHO  MUST  LIVE  ON  HIS  LAND THE 

ORDER  OF  NATURE  INVERTED  —  EQUAL  RIGHTS  TO  THE  USE  OF  THE 
EARTH  —  SELFISHNESS,  THE  EVIL  GENIUS  OF  MAN  —  THE  IRISH  PEOPLE 
FORCED  TO  BEG  PERMISSION  TO  TILL  THE  SOIL — APPROPRIATION  OF 
THE  CHURCH-LANDS  —  LAND  IN  ITSELF  HAS  No  VALUE — THE  GREAT 
CAUSE  OF  THE  UNEQUAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  WEALTH  —  No  HOPE  FOR 
THE  LABORER,  so  LONG  AS  PRIVATE  PROPERTY  IN  LAND  EXISTS  — 
NOTHING  MYSTERIOUS  ABOUT  THE  LABOR  QUESTION  —  THE  DIFFICULTY 
IN  FINDING  EMPLOYMENT  —  NATURE  OFFERS  FREELY  TO  LABOR  — 
NATURAL  MEANS  OF  EMPLOYMENT  MONOPOLIZED  —  SPECULATION  IN 
THE  BOUNTIES  OF  NATURE. 

BENEATH  all  the  great  social  questions  of  our  time  lies 
one  of  primary  and  universal  importance,  —  the  question 
of  the  rights  of  men  to  the  use  of  the  earth. 

The  magnitude  of  the  pecuniary  interests  involved,  the 
fact  that  the  influential  classes  in  all  communities  where  pri- 
vate property  in  land  exists  are  interested  in  its  maintenance , 
lead  to  a  disposition  to  ignore  or  belittle  the  land  question  : 
but  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
most  important  social  phenomena  without  reference  to  it ;  and 
the  growing  unrest  of  the  masses  of  all  civilized  countries, 
under  conditions  which  they  feel  to  be  galling  and  unjust, 
must  at  length  lead  them,  as  the  only  way  of  securing  the 
rights  of  labor,  to  turn  to  the  land  question. 

To  see  that  the  land  question  does  involve  the  problem  of 
the  equitable  distribution  of  wealth  ;  that  it  lies  at  the  root  of 
all  the  vexed  social  questions  of  our  time,  and  is,  indeed,  but 
another  name  for  the  great  labor  question  in  all  its  phases, 
it  is  only  needful  to  revert  to  first  principles,  and  to  consider 
the  relations  between  men  and  the  planet  they  inhabit. 

We  find  ourselves  'on  the  surface  of  a  sphere,  circling 

(561)  (36) 


562  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

through  immeasurable  space.  Beneath  our  feet,  the  diameter 
of  the  planet  extends  for  eight  thousand  miles ;  above  our 
heads  night  reveals  countless  points  of  light,  which  science 
tells  us  are  suns,  that  blaze  billions  of  miles  away.  In  this 
inconceivably  vast  universe,  we  are  confined  to  the  surface  of 
our  sphere,  as  the  mariner  in  mid-ocean  is  confined  to  the 
deck  of  his  ship.  We  are  limited  to  that  line  where  the  ex- 
terior of  the  planet  meets  the  atmospheric  envelope  that  sur- 
rounds it.  We  may  look  beyond,  but  cannot  pass.  We  are  not 
denizens  of  one  element,  like  the  fish  ;  but  while  our  bodies 
must  be  upheld  by  one  element,  they  must  be  laved  in  another. 
We  live  on  the  earth,  and  in  the  air.  In  the  search  for  min- 
erals men  are  able  to  descend  for  a  few  thousand  feet  into  the 
earth's  crust,  provided  communication  with  the  surface  be 
kept  open,  and  air  thus  supplied;  and  in  balloons  men  have 
ascended  to  like  distances  above  the  surface  ;  but  on  a  globe  of 
thirty-five  feet  diameter,  this  range  would  be  represented  by  the 
thickness  of  a  sheet  of  paper.  And  though  it  is  thus  possible 
for  man  to  ascend  for  a  few  thousand  feet  above  the  surface, 
or  to  descend  for  a  few  thousand  feet  below  it,  it  is  only  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth  that  he  can  habitually  live  and  supply 
his  wants ;  nor  can  he  do  this  on  all  parts  of  the  surface  of 
the  globe,  but  only  on  that  smaller  part,  which  we  call  land, 
as  distinguished  from  the  water,  while  considerable  parts  even 
of  the  land  are  uninhabitable  by  him. 

By  constructing  vessels  of  materials  obtained  from  land, 
and  provisioning  them  with  the  produce  of  land,  it  is  true 
that  man  is  able  to  traverse  the  fluid-surface  of  the  globe ;  yet 
he  is  none  the  less  dependent  upon  land.  If  the  land  of  the 
globe  were  again  to  be  submerged,  human  life  could  not  long 
be  maintained  on  the  best-appointed  ships. 

Man,  in  short,  is  a  land-animal.  Physically  considered, 
he  is  as  much  a  product  of  land  as  is  the  tree.  His  body, 
composed  of  materials  drawn  from  land,  can  only  be  main- 
tained by  nutriment  furnished  by  land  ;  and  all  the  processes 
by  which  he  secures  food,  clothing  and  shelter  consist  but  in 
the  working  up  of  land  or  the  products  of  land.  Labor  is 
possible  only  on  condition  of  access  to  land,  and  all  human 


THE  ORDER  OF  NATURE  INVERTED.          563 

production  is  but  the  union  of  land  and  labor,  —  the  trans- 
portation or  transformation  of  previously  existing  matter  into 
places  or  forms  suited  to  the  satisfaction  of  man's  needs. 

Land,  being  thus  indispensable  to  man,  the  most  important 
of  social  adjustments  is  that  which  fixes  the  relations  between 
men  with  regard  to  that  element.  Where  all  are  accorded 
equal  rights  to  the  use  of  the  earth,  no  one  needs  ask' 
another  to  give  him  employment,  and  no  one  can  stand  in 
fear  of  being  deprived  of  the  opportunity  to  make,  a  living. 
In  such  a  community,  there  could  be  no  "  labor  question." 
There  could  be  neither  degrading  poverty  nor  demoralizing 
wealth.  And  the  personal  independence  arising  from  such  a 
condition  of  equality,  in  respect  to  the  ability  to  get  a  living, 
must  give  character  to  all  social  and  political  institutions. 

On  the  other  hand,  inequality  of  privilege  in  the  use  of  the 
earth  must  beget  inequality  of  wealth  and  power,  —  must 
divide  men  into  those  who  can  command  and  those  who  are 
forced  to  serve.  The  rewards  which  nature  yields  to  labor  no 
longer  go  to  the  laborers  in  proportion  to  industry  and  skill ; 
but  a  privileged  class  are  enabled  to  live  without  labor  by 
compelling  a  disinherited  class  to  give  up  some  part  of  their 
earnings  for  permission  to  live  and  work.  Thus  the  order  of 
nature  is  inverted,  —  those  who  do  no  work  become  rich, 
and  "  workingman  "  becomes  synonymous,  with  "poor  man." 
Material  progress  tends  to  monstrous  wealth  on  one  side,  and 
abject  poverty  on  the  other ;  and  society  is  differentiated  into 
masters  and  servants,  rulers  and  ruled. 

If  one  man  were  permitted  to  claim  the  land  of  the  world 
as  his  individual  property,  he  would  be  the  absolute  master 
of  all  humanity.  All  the  rest  of  mankind  could  live  only  by 
his  permission,  and  under  such  conditions  as  he  chose  to  pre- 
scribe. So,  if  one  man  be  permitted  to  treat  as  his  own  the 
land  of  any  country,  he  becomes  the  absolute  sovereign  of 
its  people.  Or,  if  the  land  of  a  country  be  made  the  property 
of  a  class,  a  ruling  aristocracy  is  created,  who  soon  begin  to 
regard  themselves,  and  to  be  regarded,  as  of  nobler  blood  and 
superior  rights.  That  "  God  will  think  twice  before  he  damns 
people  of  quality,"  is  the  natural  feeling  of  those  who  are 


564  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

taught  to  believe  that  the  land  on  which  all  must  live  is  legiti- 
mately their  private  property. 

Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  main  facts  of  human  history. 
In  the  land  question,  we  find  the  great  key  to  the  differences 
of  political,  social,  industrial,  and  even  religious  development, 
— the  reason  of  the  growth  of  monarchies  and  aristocracies,  of 
'the  degradation  of  base  and  servile  classes,  the  cause  of  wars 
and  tumults  and  social  conflicts.  The  equality  of  men  is  not 
a  dream  of  latter-day  visionaries.  It  is  the  order  of  nature. 
Men  come  into  the  world  of  like  shape,  with  like  members 
and  like  wants  ;  and  the  differences  of  physical  and  mental 
power  among  them  are  but  individual  variations  from  a  com- 
mon standard,  which,  comparatively  small  in  normal  human- 
ity, are  largely,  if  not  entirely,  offset  by  compensations.  And 
nature  treats  all  men  with  strict  impartiality.  She  will  give 
to  the  noble  no  more  readily  than  to  the  serf.  Fire  will  burn, 
and  water  wrill  drown,  the  king  as  surely  as  the  peasant.  The 
sun  shines  and  the  rain  falls  on  the  just  and  the  unjust  alike. 
The  first  perceptions  of  man  are  always  those  of  human 
equality. 

"  When  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span, 
Who  was  then  the  gentleman?" 

The  man  of  gentle  or  noble  blood,  —  the  man  entitled  to 
reap  without  sowing,  to  consume  while  others  produce,  to  com- 
mand while  others  obey,  —  never  could  exist  where  the  equal 
rights  of  men  to  the  use  of  the  earth  were  acknowledged.  He 
is  the  product  of  a  system  that  makes  the  land  on  which  a 
whole  people  must  live,  the  property  of  a  portion  of  their 
number.  For  they  who  thus  become  earth-owners  are  en- 
abled to  levy  a  toll  for  the  use  of  nature's  bounty,  to  prescribe 
terms  on  which  alone  other  men  can  live.  They  become  the 
land-lords,  or  land-gods  of  these  other  men,  —  beings  who 
deem  themselves  of  superior  mould,  and  who  look  down  upon 
their  fellows  as  born  to  a  life  of  toil  for  their  pleasure. 

"He  that  will  not  work,  neither  shall  he  eat."  This  is  the 
decree  of  nature,  that  with  every  human  mouth  brings  two 
human  hands  into  the  world,  and  ordains  that  human  wants 
shall  only  be  satisfied  by  labor.  But  that  selfishness  which 


SELFISHNESS,    THE    EVIL    GENIUS    OF    MAN.  565 

is  the  evil  genius  of  man,  has  always  prompted  the  strong 
and  cunning  to  endeavor  to  escape  the  necessity  of  laboring 
by  compelling  their  fellows  to  do  their  work  for  them.  Of 
the  devices  to  this  end,  the  two  most  important  have  been 
that  of  making  property  of  men,  and  that  of  making  property 
of  land.  Chattel-slavery,  however,  is  but  a  rude  and  primi- 
tive method  of  systematically  robbing  labor,  profitable  only 
in  countries  of  sparse  population,  or  when  it  is  desired  to  re- 
move the  laborers  to  another  place.  Where  the  population 
is  dense  enough,  the  easier  and  more  convenient  way  of 
enslaving  a  whole  people  and  of  more  conveniently  appro- 
priating their  labor,  is  to  appropriate  their  lands,  since  they 
can  in  this  way  be  compelled  to  yield  their  labor  or  its  pro- 
duce in  return  for  the  mere  privilege  of  living.  Thus  the 
Norman  Conqueror  did  not  distribute  the  people  of  England 
among  his  freebooters  :  —  he  distributed  English  land.  Thus, 
the  adventurers  who,  at  subsequent  times,  passed  over  into 
Ireland,  did  not  seek  to  enslave  the  Irish  people,  but  to  secure 
Irish  land.  Once  masters  of  Irish  land,  the  Irish  people  were 
forced  to  beg  permission  to  till  it  for  them ;  and,  instead  of 
having  to  chase  runaway  slaves,  they  had,  in  the  power  of 
eviction,  a  means  of  coercion  by  which  they  could  extract 
from  the  laborer  all  he  could  possibly  give. 

The  natural  perception  of  mankind  is  that  of  the  equality 
of  rights  to  the  use  of  the  earth  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  pri- 
vate property  in  land,  like  chattel-slavery,  has  nowhere  origi- 
nated save  in  war  and  conquest.  But  when  this  means  of 
appropriating  labor  once  obtains  a  footing,  it  becomes  a 
potent  means  for  the  enslavement,  by  the  cunning  of  men  of 
their  own  blood.  This  process,  of  which  the  history  of  an- 
cient Rome  gives  us  a  complete  example,  has  been  going  on 
in  England  and  Scotland  for  some  centuries,  in  the  appropri- 
ation of  the  church-lands,  the  changing  into  individual  prop- 
erty of  the  land  held  on  feudal  rents  by  tenants  of  the  State, 
the  enclosure  of  commons,  the  conversion  of  the  tribal  hold- 
ings of  Highland  clans  into  individual  property  of  the  chiefs, 
and  the  substitution  of  large  proprietors  for  small  freeholders. 
It  is  going  on  to-day  in  the  United  States,  in  the  fencing  in  of 


566  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

the  public  domain,  and  the  steady  relative  decrease  of  the 
land-owning  class.  That  a  man  can  draw  an  income  of  so 
many  thousands  of  dollars  from  the  ownership  of  American 
soil,  means  that  so  many  American  citizens  must  yield  up  to 
him  the  produce  of  their  labor,  —  are  virtually  his  slaves. 

Land  in  itself  has  no  value,  and  can  yield  no  revenue,  for 
land  is  only  the  passive  factor  in  production.  Labor  is  the 
active  factor,  by  whose  exertion  upon  land  all  wealth  is  pro- 
duced. The  owner  of  the  richest  land  could  get  no  revenue 
from  his  ownership ;  all  that  he  could  get  from  it  would 
be  what  his  own  labor  produced,  until  some  one  else  was 
willing  to  pay  him  for  the  privilege  of  living  on  it,  or  work- 
ing it.  The  moment  this  becomes  the  case,  —  the  moment 
others  will  consent  to  give  the  land-owner  a  portion  of  the 
produce  of  their  labor  for  the  privilege  of  using  his  land,  —  his 
ownership  will  yield  him  a  revenue  independent  of  his  own 
labor,  —  a  revenue  derived  from  the  labor  of  others.  Thus 
land  acquires  a  value,  —  a  value  which  increases  just  as  the 
growth  of  population  and  improvement  increases  the  amount 
of  the  labor-produce  which  permission  to  live  on  or  work  land 
will  command. 

Where  population  increases,  or  is  expected  to  increase,  the 
growth  of  the  selling-value  of  land,  however,  may  to  some 
extent  precede  the  growth  of  the  power  of  obtaining  revenue 
from  its  ownership,  for  the  same  reason  that  in  the  days  of 
slavery,  a  negro  child  had  a  value  before  it  could  work,  and, 
as  the  proverb  ran,  "A  nigger's  worth  a  hundred  dollars  as 
soon  as  he  hollers."  So,  around  growing  cities,  and  in  coun- 
tries where  population  is  rapidly  increasing,  land  is  held  and 
sold  at  prices  higher  than  the  owner  could  now  obtain  for  its 
use.  But  as  in  the  case  of  the  value  of  a  slave-child,  this 
speculative  value  of  land  arises  from  expectation  of  the  reve- 
nue which  it  will  in  future  yield, — the  basis  of  all  land- 
values,  actual  or  prospective,  being  the  amount  of  labor  or 
labor-produce  which  its  owner  may  obtain  without  labor  on 
his  part  by  permitting  others  to  use  his  land.  This,  it  is  to 
be  observed,  is  invariably  true,  —  as  true  in  the  case  of  the 
little  piece  of  land  owned  by  the  man  who  uses  it  himself, 


CAUSE    OF    UNEQUAL    DISTRIBUTION    OK    WEALTH.        567 

and  whose  income  is  derived  from  his  labor  upon  it,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  great  proprietor,  whose  income  is  derived  from  the 
labor  of  those  whom  he  permits  to  use  his  land.  For,  so  long 
as  the  owner  can  only  get  an  income  from  his  land  by  using 
it  himself,  the  land  has  no  value.  It  is  only  when,  if  he  were 
to  stop  using  it  himself,  he  could,  by  selling  it  or  renting  it, 
get  the  produce  of  other  people's  labor,  that  land  has  a  value. 
The  value  of  land,  where  land  is  made  private  property,  al- 
ways means,  therefore,  the  ability  of  the  non-producer  to  live 
upon  the  producer,  —  the  power,  actual  or  prospective,  of  the 
land-owner  to  compel  labor  to  pay  him  toll. 

Increase  of  land-values,  where  land  has  been  made  private 
property,  means  simply  that  a  larger  and  larger  amount  of 
the  produce  of  labor  goes  to  non-producers  ;  that  labor  must 
pay  more'  and  more  for  being  permitted  the  use  of  natural 
facilities  indispensable  to  its  exertion.  For  though  the  giving 
of  labor,  or  the  produce  of  labor,  for  the  use  of  land  has  the 
semblance  of  an  exchange,  the  transaction  is  in  reality  on 
the  one  side  an  appropriation,  and  on  the  other  the  payment, 
of  a  tribute.  It  is  precisely  such  a  transaction  as  that  in 
which  the  fisherman  is  required  to  give  up  fish,  which  he  has 
taken  at  the  cost  of  labor  and  privation,  in  return  for  the 
privilege  of  using  the  ocean. 

Here  we  have  the  great  cause  of  that  unequal  distribution  of 
wealth,  which  is  apparent  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and 
which  increases  with  material  progress.  Low  wages,  pau- 
perism, laborers  who  cannot  find  employment,  goods  which 
cannot  be  sold  ;  a  marvelous  increase  in  the  power  of  supply- 
ing human  needs,  yet  great  masses  of  human  beings  suffer- 
ing from  want ;  poverty  seeming  to  spring  from  the  very 
excess  of  production  ;  monstrous  fortunes  accumulating  in 
the  hands  of  a  few,  while  among  the  many  the  struggle  for 
existence  grows  harder  and  more  bitter,  just  as  the  discovery 
of  better  methods  and  the  invention  of  better  machinery  make 
easier  the  production  of  the  things  necessary  for  the  main- 
tenance of  existence,  —  all  these  phenomena,  with  all  their 
social,  political  and  moral  consequences,  spring  from  one 
fundamental  maladjustment  universal  throughout  the  civilized 


568  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

world,  —  from  a  primary  wrong,  which  destroys  equality  by 
dividing  men  into  two  classes :  those  who  own  the  world  as 
their  private  property,  and  those  who,  having  no  legal  right 
to  the  use  of  the  world,  must  buy  the  privilege  of  living  and 
of  working. 

It  is  not  in  the  relations  of  labor  and  capital ;  it  is  not  in  the 
greed  of  employers  or  the  shiftlessness  or  intemperance  of 
workingmen ;  it  is  not  in  interest,  or  currency,  or  profits,  or 
in  monopolies,  such  as  those  of  railways  and  telegraphs,  nor 
yet  even  in  public  debts,  or  the  waste  of  standing  armies, — it 
is  not  in  any  nor  in  all  of  these  things  that  an  explanation 
can  be  found  of  the  fact  that  the  workingman  is  everywhere 
the  poor  man. 

All  these  are  effects,  or  at  most  secondary  causes.  Given 
a  country  where  there  were  no  railroads,  no  government, 
no  machinery,  no  currency,  no  capital ;  where  there  were  no 
employers  and  employed,  but  where  each  worker  obtained 
subsistence  from  nature  as  directly  as  do  the  birds  ;  yet  if  the 
land  of  such  a  country  were  treated  as  throughout  the  civilized 
world  land  is  treated,  and  were  made  the  private  property  of 
but  a  part  of  the  people,  —  should  we  not  see  essentially  the 
came  phenomena  that  to-day  we  see  in  the  most  highly  civil- 
ized societies,  —  non-producers  enjoying  the  fruits  of  labor, 
and  producers  in  poverty  ;  men,  possessed  only  of  the  power 
to  labor,  compelled,  in  return  for  permission  to  exercise  it, 
to  give  up  the  larger  part  of  all  they  produce,  —  retaining 
for  themselves  only  enough  to  support  life?  Why,  if  the 
very  birds  could  so  far  pervert  their  instincts  as  to  treat  the 
earth  as  the  private  property  of  some  birds,  so  that  others 
did  not  dare  to  peck  fruit,  or  catch  worms,  or  build  nests, 
without  purchasing  permission  of  some  feathered  earth-owner, 
should  we  not  see  among  birds  just  what  we  see  among  men, 
—  a  few  fat  and  lazy  birds,  deeming  it  beneath  them  to 
catch  a  worm  or  carry  a  straw,  sitting  amid  great  piles  of 
wasting  food,  painfully  gathered  and  brought  to  them  by  mis- 
erable, winged  wretches,  half-starved  amid  abundance? 

Or,  on  the  other  hand,  imagine  civilized  society  in  its 
highest  development,  with  all  wrongs  abolished,  save  the 


AN  IDEAL  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  569 

primary  wrong  involved  in  private  property  in  land.  Let 
there  be  no  standing  armies,  no  public  debts,  no  wars  nor  pre- 
parations for  war.  Let  the  railroads  be  run  under  the  most 
perfect  system,  and  with  sole  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
public  ;  let  the  wasteful  "protective"  tariffs,  which  beget  mono- 
polies and  hamper  the  trade  of  the  world,  be  swept  away ;  let 
perfect  purity  obtain  in  politics,  and  governments  be  carried 
on  with  absolute  honesty  and  at  the  minimum  of  expense. 
Imagine,  if  you  please,  all  taxes  abolished,  and  public  ex- 
penses met  by  the  contributions  of  public-spirited  citizens. 
Imagine  employers  to  share  their  gains  equally  with  their 
workmen,  and  co-operation  so  general  that  it  should  do  away 
with  the  middle-man's  profits  ;  let  there  be  a  perfect  currency  ; 
and  imagine,  if  that  be  imaginable,  all  interest  abolished.  Im- 
agine everybody  prudent  and  honest,  the  craving  for  liquor 
a  forgotten  taste,  and  the  making  of  intoxicating  beverages  a 
lost  art.  Yet  if  private  property  in  land  be  retained,  —  if  one 
set  of  men  must  still  pay  another  set  of  men  for  the  use  of  the 
planet, — what  would  be  the  gain  to  the  mere  laborer?  All 
these  social  improvements  would,  by  diminishing  waste,  add 
to  the  wealth  of  society.  But  all  the  other  classes  that  prey 
upon  labor  being  eliminated,  the  result  would  be  that  the 
land-owners  could  get  all  the  more  of  this  wealth.  Good 
government,  cheap  railroad- fares,  free  trade,  a  perfect  cur- 
rency, the  abolition  of  the  profits  of  middle-men,  temperance 
and  thrift,  would  not  enable  men  to  live  without  land  or  to 
work  without  a  place  to  work  on,  and  something  to  work  up. 
And,  this  being  the  case,  all  these  improvements  could  make 
no  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  masses.  Laborers  of 
more  than  ordinary  skill  or  ability  might,  as  now,  get  more 
than  a  bare  living ;  but  men  of  only  ordinary  abilities  and 
skill,  possessed  only  of  the  power  to  labor,  and  with  nothing 
to  use  that  power  upon,  must  still,  by  the  inevitable  law  of 
competition,  be  driven  to  give  up  all  their  labor  could  produce 
above  a  bare  living,  for  the  sake  of  getting  permission  to  live 
at  all. 

This  impossibility  of  relieving  poverty   and   securing  an 
equitable  distribution  of  wealth,  while  the  land  on  which  all 


57°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

must  live  is  made  the  private  property  of  some,  arises  from 
the  very  constitution  of  man,  —  from  the  fact  that  he  is  a  land- 
animal,  who  must  live  on  and  from  land,  if  he  lives  at  all. 
This  being  the  case,  there  is  no  possible  reform,  no  possible 
improvement,  no  possible  discovery  or  invention,  which  can 
permanently  raise  the  lowest  class  of  society  above  the  verge 
of  starvation,  so  long  as  private  property  in  land  exists.  The 
failure  of  the  great  improvements  and  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions of  the  nineteenth  century  to  eradicate  want ;  the  fact 
that  poverty  seems  to  deepen  with  material  progress ;  that 
the  most  wonderful  multiplications  of  the  productive  power 
of  labor  seem,  instead  of  lightening  the  toil  of  the  laboring 
class,  to  compel  even  women  and  children  to  work  ;  and  that, 
amid  the  greatest  accumulations  of  wealth,  human  beings  die 
of  starvation,  does  not  arise  from  the  fact  that  these  inventions 
and  discoveries  and  improvements  have  not  yet  gone  far 
enough,  but  from  that  fundamental  law  of  his  being,  which 
makes  it  impossible  for  man  to  live,  save  on  and  from  land, 
—  from  that  fundamental  limitation  of  his  power  which  makes 
it  impossible  for  him  to  create  something  out  of  nothing,  and 
restricts  all  his  production  to  the  utilization  of  the  pre-existing 
matter  and  force  of  the  universe. 

And  in  this  absolute  dependence  of  labor  upon  land,  we 
may  see  the  explanation  of  the  paradox  that  poverty  seems  to 
spring  from  the  very  excess  of  the  production  of  wealth,  and 
that  the  increase  which  improved  processes  and  inventions 
give  to  the  productive  power  of  labor  make  the  mere  laborer 
more  helpless.  For  it  is  manifest  that,  were  invention  and 
discovery  to  go  so  far  as  to  dispense  with  labor  in  the  pro- 
duction of  wealth,  all  the  wealth  that  they  could  desire  could 
be  obtained  by  land-owners  without  the  employment  of  labor, 
and  that  mere  laborers  would  become  but  cumberers  of  the 
land-lord's  ground,  and  could  only  escape  starvation  as  pau- 
pers, supported  by  his  bounty.  This  is  the  direction  in  which 
labor-saving  discovery  and  invention  must  tend,  wherever 
land  is  private  property.  And  thus  it  is,  that  want  seems  to 
arise  from  the  very  "  over-production  "  of  things  that  satisfy 
want,  and  that  as  the  productive  power  of  labor  increases, 


TIII;  "HOUSE  OF  HAVE."  571 

the  struggle  for  existence  becomes  more  bitter,  and  the  num- 
ber of  men  for  whom  there  seems  to  be  no  place  and  no  need 
in  this  world  becomes  larger  and  larger. 

That  what  is  called  the  labor  question  is  simply  another 
name  for  the  land  question  ;  that  all  the  ills  which  labor 
suffers  spring  from  the  appropriation  as  private  property  of 
the  element  without  which  labor  is  useless, —  becomes  evident 
upon  any  honest  attempt  to  trace  these  ills  to  their  source. 
The  trouble  with  most  of  the  clergymen-,  and  professors,  and 
dilettante  philanthropists,  who  are  now  directing  so  much 
attention  to  the  labor  question,  is,  that  they  are  not  honest. 
They  are  making  believe  to  look  for  what  they  really  do  not 
want  to  find ;  they  are  pretending  to  seek  the  remedy  of  a 
great  wrong,  with  a  predetermination  to  avoid  any  conclusion 
which  would  offend  "vested  interests,"  or  disturb  the  "House 
of  Have."  They  deliberately  turn  away  from  the  only  road 
which  could  lead  to  the  explanation  they  profess  to  desire, 
and  as  a  remedy  for  the  most  widespread  and  gigantic  evils 
have  nothing  better  to  propose  than  some  canting  injunction 
that  everybody  should  be  good ;  some  exhortation  to  employ- 
ers to  be  kind,  and  to  \vorkingmen  to  be  industrious,  tem- 
perate, and,  above  all,  contented;  some  two-penny  scheme  of 
co-operation  or  "  profit-sharing."  There  is  nothing  mysterious 
about  the  labor  question.  The  cause  of  the  terrible  competi- 
tion in  the  labor-market  which  cuts  down  wages  to  the  point 
'of  bare  subsistence,  when  not  restrained  by  the  combinations 
of  workmen,  and  of  all  the  manifold  evils  to  which  this  leads, 
is  simply  that  all  the  men  who  want  work  cannot  find  work, 
and  that  there  is  at  all  times  a  great  number,  and  in  times  of 
commercial  depression  a  very  great  number,  who  are  anxious 
to  earn  a  living,  but  cannot  get  the  opportunity. 

Now,  whence  arises  this  difficulty  of  finding  employment, — 
this  seeming  excess  of  the  supply  of  labor  over  the  demand 
for  labor?  With  every  pair  of  hands  that  come  into  the 
world,  does  there  not  come  one  mouth  ?  Is  there  not  demand 
enough  for  labor  in  the  wants  of  those  whose  power  to  labor 
is  going  to  waste,  because  they  can  find  no  use  for  it?  Too 
little  demand  for  labor  !  when  even  of  those  at  work  so  many 


572  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

are  under-fed,  under-clothed,  and  not  half-sheltered  ;  when 
the  great  majority  of  men  in  all  civilized  countries  are 
harassed  by  wants  they  are  unable  to  supply  ! 

If  there  are  more  men  seeking  employment  than  can  find 
employers,  what  is  to  hinder  these  men  from  employing  them- 
selves? Did  the  first  man  have  to  hunt  around  for  some  one 
to  hire  him  before  he  could  go  to  work  ?  Who  was  there  to 
hire  Robinson  Crusoe?  Yet  did  he  lack  employment?  Did 
the  settlers  of  this  country,  or  the  men  who  ever  since  have 
been  pushing  out  into  the  wilderness,  have  to  get  themselves 
employers  before  they  could  make  homes  and  earn  a 
living  ? 

The  only  indispensable  condition  to  the  employment  of  labor 
is  LAND.  Capital  in  all  its  forms,  wealth  in  all  its  forms, 
is  but  the  produce  of  labor  exerted  upon  land.  Give  labor 
the  use  of  land,  and  all  things  that  man  can  bring  into  being 
can  be  produced.  If,  therefore,  labor  is  going  to  waste  ;  if  men 
willing  to  work  to  supply  their  needs  cannot  find  opportunity 
to  do  so,  and  must  engage  in  a  cut-throat  competition  with  each 
other  for  the  wages  of  some  employer,  it  is  solely  because 
they  cannot  avail  themselves  of  the  natural  opportunities  for 
making  their  labor  available. 

But  this  is  due  to  no  lack  of  natural  opportunities.  In  the 
most  densely-peopled  country  of  the  civilized  world,  there  are 
natural  resources  which  would  suffice  for  many  times  the 
population.  In  our  own  vast  country,  we  have  hardly  begun 
to  scratch  the  surface  of  nature's  store-house.  Around  every 
city  there  are  vacant  lots,  on  which  labor  might  find  employ- 
ment in  building  houses  for  an  over-crowded  population. 
There  are  millions  and  millions  of  unused  acres,  on  which 
men  who  are  becoming  tramps  might  make  themselves  homes. 
There  is  clay  and  timber  and  iron  and  coal,  of  which  no  use 
is  made.  Of  our  agricultural  land,  that  which  is  cultivated 
is  but  an  insignificant  part  of  what  remains  to  cultivate.  If 
labor  cannot  find  employment  for  itself,  it  is  not  because  of 
the  failure  of  nature  to  offer  opportunities  for  its  employment. 
It  is  simply  because  we  have  allowed  these  opportunities  to 
be  seized  and  held  by  men  who  cannot  use  them  themselves, 


SOLUTION    OF    THE    LABOR    QUESTION.  573 

and  will  not  allow  others  to  use  them,  —  because  we  permit 
what  nature  offers  freely  to  labor  to  be  used  as  a  means  to 
extort  blackmail  from  labor.  Here  is  the  one  great  cause  of 
unemployed  labor,  of  depressed  trade,  of  the  competition 
which  everywhere  tends  to  force  wages  down  to  the  starva- 
tion point,  and  of  widespread  poverty,  conjoined  with  the 
most  enormous  powers  of  producing  wealth. 

The  natural  means  of  employment  monopolized,  men  who 
have  nothing  but  the  power  to  labor  are  driven  into  a  cut- 
throat competition  with  their  fellows  to  obtain  from  some 
other  human  creature  the  "leave  to  toil."  Compelled  to  stint, 
unable  with  the  produce  of  their  own  labor  to  purchase  the 
produce  of  other's  labor,  goods  that  cannot  be  sold  accumu- 
late in  warehouses  while  thousands  suffer  from  want. 

There  is  but  one  way  of  solving  the  labor  question,  of  pre- 
venting monstrous  injustice  in  the  distribution  of  wealth,  and 
substituting  just  and  wholesome  social  conditions  for  those 
which  it  is  now  becoming  clear  must,  if  unchecked,  lead  us 
to  anarchy  ;  and  that  is  by  securing  to  all  men  their  inaliena- 
ble right  to  live  and  to  work.  This  can  only  be  done  by 
abolishing  the  private  ownership  of  land,  and  making  the 
land  of  a  country  the  common  property  of  the  whole  people. 
The  doing  of  this  does  not  involve  any  denial  of  legitimate 
property-rights,  any  lessening  of  the  incentive  to  build,  im- 
prove or  cultivate  ;  any  interference  with  that  security  of  pos- 
session which  is  necessary  to  all  the  higher  uses  of  land. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  treat  land  as  the  common  heritage  of 
the  whole  people,  and  individual  possessors  as  tenants  of  the 
community,  paying  a -just  rent  for  any  peculiar  privileges 
they  enjoy.  And  the  easy  method  of  accomplishing  this  is 
to  abolish  all  the  taxes  which  now  oppress  labor  and  hamper 
production,  and  by  means  of  a  tax,  not  upon  land,  but  upon 
the  value  of  land,  to  collect  for  common  uses  that  "unearned 
increment"  which  now  goes  to  land-owners.  Were  this 
done,  it  would  become  unprofitable  for  any  one  to  hold  land 
that  he  was  not  putting  to  use,  and  the  city-lots,  the  mines, 
the  unused  fields,  that  are  now  held  on  speculation  would 
necessarily  be  thrown  open  to  those  who  wished  to  use  them. 


574  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

Thus  speculation  in  the  bounties  of  nature  would  be  de- 
stroyed, production  would  be  relieved  of  all  burdens,  and  that 
value  which  attaches  to  land  by  reason,  not  of  the  exertion  or 
improvements  of  individuals,  but  by  the  growth  and  progress 
of  society,  would  constitute  a  great  fund  from  which  all  pub- 
lic expenses  could  be  met. 

How  this  simple  yet  far-reaching  reform  would  secure  the 
farmer  his  homestead,  and  give  the  tenement-dweller  a  spot 
he  could  call  his  own ;  how  it  would  relieve  the  dreariness  of 
country  life  and  the  congestion  of  over-crowded  cities ;  how 
it  would  simplify  government  and  purify  politics ;  how  it 
would  equalize  the  distribution  of  wealth  and  enormously  in- 
crease production,  I  have  shown  in  detail  in  my  books,  but 
cannot  dwell  upon  in  the  space  allotted  to  me  here.  But  who- 
ever will  heed  the  general  principles  I  have  here  endeavored 
to  point  out,  must  see  that  in  the  divorce  which  our  laws 
make  between  men  and  the  natural  element  from  which  the 
means  of  life  must  be  drawn,  lies  the  cause  of  that  monstrous 
injustice  which  piles  up  wealth  in  the  hands  of  non-producers, 
and  makes  labor  a  suppliant  for  the  very  "  leave  to  toil ;  "  and 
that,  at  whatever  cost,  to  conform  our  treatment  of  land  to 
the  dictates  of  justice  is  the  only  way  in  which  our  civilization 
can  escape  such  wrecking  disasters  as  have  overwhelmed  civ- 
ilizations that  preceded  it. 

There  is  in  this  world  no  necessity  for  poverty,  and  for  the 
vice  and  crime  that  springs  from  it.  That  so  much  of  human 
life  is  a  bitter  struggle  for  mere  existence,  is  man's  fault,  not 
God's.  The  powers  with  which  man  has  been  gifted,  the 
potentialities  which  exist  in  nature,  are  sufficient  to  give  to 
the  very  humblest  all  the  real  advantages  that  the  richest 
can  now  enjoy,  to  make  possible  a  social  state  in  which  men 
should  no  more  vex  themselves  about  the  satisfaction  of  mate*, 
rial  needs  than  do  the  lilies  of  the  field.  But  the  Creator  has 
annexed  to  his  gifts  the  inexorable  condition  that  we  shall 
deal  justty  with  our  fellows.  A  system  which  denies  their 
birth-right  to  the  children  who  come  into  the  world  involves 
a  crime  which  must  bring  its  punishment. 

HENRY  GEORGE. 


CALIFORNIA   LABOR   LEADERS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    ARMY    OF    UNEMPLOYED. 

THE  CINCINNATI  RIOTS  —  LABOR-SAVING  MACHINERY — LESS  HOURS  OF 
TOIL  —  STATISTICS  —  FLESH-AND-BLOOD  MEN  —  REMEDIES  RECOMMEND- 
ED—  THE  SIN  OF  CHEAPNESS  —  Too  MUCH  WHEAT. 


I 


N  January,  1884,  the  following  paragraph  appeared  in  one 
of  the  daily  papers  :  — 

It  is  estimated,  that  at  the  present  time,  one  million  and  a  half  of  men  are 
out  of  employment  in  the  United  States ;  it  is  safe  to  predict  that,  if  oppor- 
tunities were  offered  to  these  men  to  drop  into  useful  occupations,  a  large 
majority  would  not  avail  themselves  of  them. 

Since  then,  the  number  of  the  unemployed  must  have  in- 
creased ;  for  nearly  every  day  we  read  such  items  as  this  :  — 

The  worsted-mill  connected  with  the  Bigelow  Carpet-Mills,  which  employs 
about  three  hundred  hands,  shut  down  this  morning,  for  three  weeks.  This, 
with  the  five  per  cent,  cut-down  at  the  Lancaster  Gingham-Mills,  where  two 
thousand  five  hundred  hands  are  employed,  which  also  went  into  effect  this 
morning,  makes  Clinton's  business  outlook  decidedly  poor. 

In  the  two  years  ending  December  i,  1884,  those  employed 
in  and  around  the  coal-mines  worked  but  a  little  over  half- 
time,  and  for  the  length  of  time  that  they  were  not  at  work, 
they  must  be  counted  in  with  the  unemployed.  If  the  figures 
above  quoted  were  correct  in  January,  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  at  present,  the  number  will  not  fall  short  of  2,000,000. 
The  census  of  1880  shows  that  the  number  of  persons  engaged 
in  gainful  occupations  was  17,392,099.  Of  this  number 
3,837,112  were  engaged  in  manufacturing,  mechanical  and 
mining  pursuits,  while  5,183,099  gained  a  livelihood  as  labor- 
ers (agricultural  and  otherwise).  Thus,  in  1880,  we  had,  in 
the  United  States,  between  laborers,  mechanics,  miners  and 
those  engaged  in  manufacturing  establishments,  9,020,211 
persons. 

(575) 


576  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

From  a  personal  experience,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  the 
greater  portion  of  those  who  are  now  out  of  employment 
comes  from  occupations  that  go  to  make  up  the  9,020,211. 
It  is  safe  to  assume,  that  the  2,000,000  unemployed  persons 
are  discontented  with  their  lot ;  and,  not  only  are  they  dis- 
contented, but  those  who  labor  at  the  same  occupations  that 
they  previously  followed,  have  every  reason  to  be  dissatisfied 
also.  With  so  many  men  and  women  seeking  employment, 
the  tendency  of  wages  must  be  downward.  It  does  not  fol- 
low, because  men  are  out  of  employment,  that  such  articles 
as  their  fellow-workmen  produce  should  decrease  in  value,  or 
that  the  profit  on  the  manufactured  article,  accruing  to  the 
owners  of  the  establishment  in  which  they  work,  should  be 
any  less ;  on  the  contrary,  the  expectation  is,  that  diminished 
production  will  increase  the  price  of  the  manufactured  article, 
or  at  least  prevent  its  depreciation  when  thrown  on  the  market. 
Notwithstanding  the  reduction  in  the  expenses  of  the  mining 
company,  we  pay  the  same  price  for  coal  that  we  paid  a  year 
ago.  It  matters  not  that  the  carpet-mills  "suspend  three 
hundred  hands,"  the  price  of  carpeting  remains  unchanged. 
The  gingham-mills  and  the  cotton  and  woolen-mills  may 
reduce  the  wages  of  employes  five  and  ten  per  cent.,  yet  the 
price  of  gingham  and  calico  continues  as  before.  Whether 
the  manufactured  article  commands  the  same  price  in  the 
market  or  not,  the  employer,  knowing  that  he  can  secure  an 
abundance  of  help,  reduces  the  wages  of  his  employees. 
Those  who  are  out  of  employment  are  no  longer  producers, 
and  they  certainly  are  not  consumers,  to  any  increased  extent. 
The  wages  of  those  employed  having  been  reduced,  their 
powers  of  consumption  are  limited.  The  merchant,  whose 
shelves  are  stocked  with  goods,  becomes  discontented,  when 
he  views  the  rows  of  men  and  women  that  stand  in  front  of 
his  store,  peering  with  hungry-looking  eyes  through  his  win- 
dows at  the  goods  so  temptingly  held  to  view,  willing  and' 
anxious  to  buy  these  goods,  but  deprived  of  the  means, 
through  enforced  idleness  or  inadequate  compensation  for 
services  rendered.  Ask  the  business  man  what  the  cause  of 
the  depression  is,  and  he,  parrot-like,  will  say,  "  It  is  all  regu- 


THE    "LAW"    OF    SUPPLY    AND    DEMAND.  577 

lated  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand."  A  moment's  reflec- 
tion would  show  him  that  the  law  of  supply  and  demand, 
like  all  other  laws,  is  open  to  different  constructions.  On  his 
shelves  is  a  supply  of  goods  ;  outside  of  his  window  is  a  de- 
mand for  these  goods, — a  demand  that  is  at  all  times  equal  to 
the  supply.  Why  is  it,  that  the  demand  does  not  reach  forth 
and  secure  the  supply?  The  answer  comes,  "Because  the 
medium  of  exchange  is  lacking  ;  because  labor  is  too  cheap 
and  plenty,  and  money  too  dear  and  scarce."  That  a  deep- 
rooted  feeling  of  discontent  prevades  the  masses,  none  can 
deny  ;  that  there  is  a  just  cause  for  it,  must  be  admitted.  The 
old  cry,  "These  agitators  are  stirring  up  a  feeling  of  dissatis- 
faction among  workingmen,  and  they  should  be  suppressed," 
will  not  avail  now.  Every  thinking  person  knows  that  the 
agitator  did  not  throw  two  millions  of  men  out  of  employ- 
ment. The  man  that  reads  such  paragraphs  as  this,  will  not 
lay  the  blame  of  it  at  the  door  of  the  agitator  :  — 

Mrs.  Sarah  Jane  Geary,  an  Englishwoman,  residing  in  this  city,  committed 
suicide,  a  few  days  since.  Her  husband  is  a  miner,  and,  owing  to  the  frequent 
suspensions  of  business  in  the  mines  during  the  past  winter,  his  meager  earn- 
ings were  insufficient  to  support  the  family.  The  fact  preyed  on  Mrs.  Geary's 
mind,  and  she  resolved  to  end  her  life,  that  her  children  might  receive  her 
share  of  the  food ;  otherwise,  they  would  go  hungry. 

The  Cincinnati  riots,  that  occurred  less  than  one  year  ago, 
were  not  brought  about  through  the  agitation  of  the  labor- 
leader.  If  the  demand  for  "  the  removal  of  unjust  techni- 
calities, delays  and  discriminations  in  the  administration  of 
justice,"  had  been  listened  to  when  first  made  by  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  Cincinnati  would  have  been  spared  sorrow  and  dis- 
grace, and  her  "  prominent  citizens  "  would  not  have  ha'd  to 
lead  a  mob,  in  order  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  country  to  the 
manner  in  which  her  courts  were  throttled,  and  virtue  and 
truth  were  trampled  upon  in  her  temples  of  justice.  That  the 
army  of  the  discontented  is  gathering  fresh  recruits  day  by 
day,  is  true ;  and  if  this  army  should  become  so  large,  that, 
driven  to  desperation,  it  should  one  day  arise  in  its  wrath, 
and  grapple  with  its  real  or  fancied  enemy,  the  responsibility 
for  that  act  must  fall  upon  the  heads  of  those  who  could  have 

(37) 


THE    LABOR   MOVEMENT. 

averted  the  blow,  but  who  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  supplica- 
tion of  suffering  humanity,  and  gave  the  screw  of  oppression 
an  extra  turn,  because  they  had  the  power.  Workingmen's 
organizations  are  doing  all  they  can  to  avert  the  blow  ;  but  if 
that  day  dawns  upon  us,  it  will  be  chargeable  directly  o  men 
who  taunt  others  with  unequal  earnings,  and  distort  the  truth, 
as  was  done  in  an  interview  recently  had  with  Mr.  William 
H.  Vanderbilt :  - 

One  of  the  troubles  in  this  country,  just  now,  is  the  relation  of  wages  to 
the  cost  of  production.  A  skilled  workman,  in  almost  every  branch  of  busi- 
ness, gets  every  day  money  enough  to  buy  a  barrel  of  flour.  I  don't  refer  to 
ordinary  laborers,  but  to  men  skilled  at  their  trades.  The  man  who  makes 
the  article  receives  as  much  wages,  in  many  instances,  as  the  article  is  worth 
when  it  is  finished.  This  is  not  exactly  fair,  in  my  opinion,  and  must  be 
adjusted.  Until  wages  bear  a  truer  relation  to  production,  there  can  be  no 
real  prosperity  in  the  country 

I  have  seen  no  denial  of  the  above,  and  take  it  for  granted 
that  it  is  a  correct  report.  Mr.  Vanderbilt  starts  out  well 
enough  ;  but  he  is  in  error  when  he  says  that  "  a  skilled  work- 
man, in  almost  every  branch  of  business,  gets  money  enough 
every  day  to  buy  a  barrel  of  flour."  I  know  of  no  business 
in  the  United  States,  in  which  a  skilled  mechanic,  working 
regularly  at  his  trade  day  by  day,  gets  money  enough  for  his 
day's  labor  to  buy  a  barrel  of  flour.  That  they  earn  the 
price  of  a  barrel  of  flour,  I  do  not  deny ;  but  that  they  get  it, 
is  not  true.  It  may  be  that  Mr.  Vanderbilt  refers  to  superin- 
tendents, foremen  or  contractors  ;  for  they  are  the  only  ones 
that  receive  such  wages.  The  average  wages  paid  to  the 
skilled  mechanic  will  not  exceed  $2.50  a  day.  I  know  of 
but  few  branches  of  business  in  which  men  can  command 
that  price.  The  wages  of  skilled  mechanics  are  on  the  de- 
cline, while  the  price  of  flour  remains  unchanged,  from  $5-75 
to  $8.50  a  barrel.  If  Mr.  Vanderbilt  will  demonstrate  how 
one  can  purchase  a  six-dollar  barrel  of  flour  for  two  dollars 
and  a  half,  he  will  have  solved  a  very  difficult  problem  for 
the  workingman.  It  is  not  the  labor  of  the  skilled  mechanic 
alone  that  must  be  taken  into  account,  in  computing  the  cost 
of  the  manufactured  article  ;  the  average  price  paid  to  labor 


STATISTICS    OF   WAGES.  579 

in  the  establishment  should  be  the  standard,  if  a  standard  of 
wages  is  required.  An  examination  of  the  last  census  report 
shows  that  the  number  of  manufacturing  establishments  in 
the  United  States  was  253,852,  and  the  amount  of  capital 
invested  was  $2,790,272,606;  the  average  number  of  hands 
employed  was  2,732,595  ;  the  value  of  the  raw  material  was 
$3,396,823,549;  while  the  product  of  the  manufactured  arti- 
cles was  $5,369,579,191.  Deduct  the  sum  paid  for  the  raw 
material  from  the  product  of  the  manufactured  article,  and 
we  have  $1,972,745,642.  This  sum  represents  the  difference 
between  the  price  paid  for  the  article  when  in  a  raw  state 
and  that  received  for  it  when  manufactured.  It  is  evident 
that  something  more  than  interest  on  money  invested  was 
required  to  give  this  additional  value  to  the  material.  That 
something  was  the  labor  of  the  hands  referred  to.  The  total 
amount  paid  in  wages,  to  the  employees  of  these  establish- 
ments, was  $947»953>795'  Deducting  this  amount  from  the 
$1,972,745,642,  we  have  left  $1,024,791,847.  This  sum 
goes  to  the  manufacturer.  It  is  estimated  by  some  that  the 
amount  paid  for  raw  material  includes  taxes,  insurances, 
salaries  and  repairs ;  but,  in  the  absence  of  reliable  statistics, 
I  am  not  prepared  to  prove  that  such  is  the  case.  By  adding 
the  sum  paid  for  raw  material  to  the  amount  of  capital  in- 
vested, we  have  $6,187,096,155,  the  total  investment  of  the 
manufacturer.  From  this  sum  we  have,  pitted  against  every 
one  of  the  2,732,595  employees,  a  fraction  over  $2,264. 
While  the  average  yearly  earnings  of  each  employee  were 
$720,  he  received  in  wages  but  a  fraction  over  $346,  or  a 
trifle  over  one  dollar  a  day  for  every  working-day  in  the  year. 
Subtract  the  wages  of  the  employee  from  his  earnings,  and 
we  have  left  $374.  The  employee  receives  an  average  of 
$346  a  year  for  his  labor,  while  his  employer  receives  $374 
on  an  investment  of  $2,264.  Instead  of  basing  the  cost  of 
the  manufactured  article  on  the  wages  given  to  the  highest- 
priced  skilled  mechanic,  it  should  be  based  on  the  average 
wage  paid  to  the  men  in  these  establishments.  It  thus 
appears  that  a  barrel  of  flour  costs  several  days'  labor. 
It  may  be  said  that  many  of  the  employees  of  the  manu- 


580  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

facturing  establishments  are  minors,  and  consequently  cannot 
perform  as  great  an  amount  of  labor  as  a  corresponding  num- 
ber of  adults.  That  argument  might  have  had  some  weight 
years  ago,  but  now  it  is  fruitless.  The  age  and  strength  of 
the  workman  are  no  longer  regarded  as  factors  in  the  field 
of  production ;  it  is  the  skill  of  the  operator  in  managing  a 
labor-saving  machine  that  is  held  to  be  the  most  essential. 
It  is  true  that  a  child  can  operate  a  machine  as  successfully 
as  a  man,  and  that  muscle  is  no  longer  a  requisite  in  accom- 
plishing results.  It  is  also  true  that  less  time  is  required  to- 
perform  a  given  amount  of  labor  than  heretofore.  This  being 
the  case,  the  plea  for  shorter  hours  is  not  unreasonable.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  said,  one  hundred  years  ago,  that  "  if  the 
workers  of  the  world  would  labor  but  four  hours  each  day, 
they  could  produce  enough  in  that  length  of  time  to  supply 
the  wants  of  mankind."  While  it  is  'true  that  the  means  of 
supplying  the  wants  of  man  have  increased  as  if  by  magicr 
yet  man  has  acquired  no  new  wants ;  he  is  merely  enabled  to 
gratify  his  needs  more  fully.  If  it  were  true  in  Franklin's 
time  that  four  hours  of  toil  each  day  would  prove  sufficient 
to  minister  to  the  necessities  of  the  world's  inhabitants,  the 
argument  certainly  has  lost  none  of  its  force  since  then.  At 
that  rime,  it  took  the  sailing-vessel  three  months  to  cross  the 
ocean  ;  the  stage-coach  made  its  thirty  or  forty  miles  a  day  ; 
the  electric  wire  was  not  dreamed  of;  and  the  letter  that  trav- 
eled but  little  faster  than  the  stage-coach  was  the  quickest 
medium  of  communication. 

It  required  six  days'  labor  at  the  hands  of  the  machinist,, 
with  hammer,  chisel  and  file  to  perfect  a  certain  piece  of 
machinery  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  The  machinist 
of  the  present  day  can  finish  a  better  job  in  six  hours,  with 
the  aid  of  a  labor-saving  machine.  In  a  yarn-mill  in  Phila- 
delphia, the  proprietor  says  that  improved  machinery  has 
caused  a  displacement  of  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  former  em- 
ployees within  five  years,  and  that  one  person,  with  the  aid 
of  improved  machinery,  can  perform  the  work  that  it  took 
upward  of  one  hundred  carders  and  spinners  to  do  with  the 
tools  and  implements  in  use  at  the  beginning  of  this  century. 


LABOR-SAVING    MACHINERY.  581 

In  Massachusetts,  it  has  been  estimated  that  318,768  men, 
women  and  children  do,  with  improved  machinery,  the  work 
that  it  would  require  1,912,468  men  to  perform,  if  improved 
machinery  were  not  in  use.  To  insure  safety  on  a  passenger- 
train,  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  have  a  brakeman  at  each 
end  of  the  car ;  the  automatic  air-brake  does  the  work,  while 
one  brakeman  can  shout,  "  All  right  here  ! "  for  the  whole 
train.  The  employee  that  has  had  a  limb  cut  off  in  a  collision, 
must  beg  for  bread  or  turn  the  crank  of  a  hand-organ,  and 
gather  his  pennies  under  the  legend,  "  Please  assist  a  poor 
soldier,  who  lost  his  leg  at  Gettysburg."  He  is  no  longer" 
stationed,  flag  in  hand,  at  the  switch ;  the  automatic  lever 
directs  the  course  of  the  train,  and  renders  the  one-legged 
switchman  unnecessary.  It  is  said  that  the  iron-moulder 
recently  invented  is  capable  of  performing  as  much  labor 
as  three  skilled  workmen ;  while  the  following  dispatch  to 
a  Philadelphia  paper,  from  Mahanoy  City,  shows  what  is 
being  done  in  the  mines  :  — 

For  the  past  three  years  the  reduction  in  wages  has  been  systematic  and 
steady.  When  one  of  the  officials  of  one  of  the  great  companies  was  inter- 
viewed on  the  matter,  he  replied  that  the  advance  in  labor-saving  machinery 
had  lightened  the  labor  of  the  men.  A  miner  at  one  of  the  Reading  collieries 
says  that  some  months  ago  he  expended  a  large  sum  for  a  patent  drill,  which 
enabled  him  to  do  five  times  the  usual  amount  of  work.  He  was  employed  in 
driving  a  gangway,  the  price  paid  being  $ioayard;  but  at  the  end  of  the 
week,  when  the  officials  saw  the  amount  of  work  he  had  done,  the  rate  was 
reduced  to  $4,50  a  yard. 

Take  the  iron-moulder  as  an  illustration.  Three  flesh-and- 
blood  men,  who  require  shelter,  clothing,  recreation  and  so- 
cial intercourse,  who  must  eat  or  starve,  who  must  pay  taxes 
to  support  the  State,  and  whose  bodies  can  be  taken  to  de- 
fend the  State,  in  case  of  invasion  or  rebellion  ;  one  iron  man, 
who  does  not  feel,  sleep,  eat  or  drink,  who  never  tires  and 
never  rests.  Three  flesh-and-blood  men,  who  have  children 
depending  upon  them  for  bread ;  one  iron  man,  who  has  no 
family  to  support ;  and  the  three  men  whom  he  has  displaced, 
must  continue  to  support  families,  or  enlist  in  that  ever- 
increasing  army  of  tramps.  Heat,  steam,  electricity,  labor- 
saving  machines  pay  no  taxes,  municipal  or  national;  the 


582  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

men  thrown  out  of  employment,  through  the  introduction  of 
these  agents,  are  deprived  of  the  means  of  contributing  to 
the  support  of  the  State,  and  an  extra  burden  is  shifted  to  the 
shoulders  of  those  that  continue  to  work.  The  existence  of 
such  a  state  of  affairs  gives  evidence  that  the  introduction 
of  machinery,  from  which  the  many  should  derive  an  advan- 
tage, is  being  used  for  the  benefit  of  a  few,  who  already 
feel  the  blow  given  to  trade,  through  the  displacement  of  so 
many  consumers. 

A  great  many  remedies  are  recommended  for  the  ills  that  I 
'speak  of.  Let  me  deal  \vith  what  seems  to  be  the  most  unim- 
portant, —  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  a  day. 
Men,  women  and  children  are  working  from  ten  to  eighteen 
hours  a  day,  and  two  million  men  have  nothing  to  do.  If 
four  men,  following  a  given  occupation,  at  which  they  work 
ten  hours  a  day,  would  rest  from  their  labors  two  hours  each 
day,  the  two  hours  taken  from  the  labor  of  each,  if  added 
together,  would  give  the  tramp  that  stands  looking  on,  an 
opportunity  of  stepping  into  a  position  at  eight  hours  a  day. 
It  is  said  that  a  vast  majority  of  those  who  are  idle  would 
not  work,  if  they  had  work  to  do.  That  statement  is  un- 
true ;  but  let  us  admit  that  five  hundred  thousand  of  the  two 
million  idle  men  would  not  work,  and  we  still  have  a  million 
and  a  half  who  are  anxious  and  willing  to  work.  If  but  six 
million  of  the  seventeen  million  producers  will  abstain  from 
working  ten,  fifteen,  and  eighteen  hours  a  day,  and  work  but 
eight,  the  one  million  and  a  half  of  idle  men  that  are  willing 
to  work,  can  again  take  their  places  in  the  ranks  of  the 
world's  producers.  Need  it  be  said,  that  a  million  and  a  half 
of  new  hats  will  be  needed ;  that  a  corresponding  number  of 
pairs  of  shoes,  suits  of  clothing,  and  a  hundred  other  things 
will  be  required  ;  that  the  wants  of  these  men  and  their  fami- 
lies will  be  supplied ;  that  shelves  will  be  emptied  of  their 
goods,  and  that  the  money  expended  will  again  go  into  cir- 
culation. It  would  entail  hardship  on  some  branches  of  busi- 
ness, to  require  men  employed  in  them  to  work  eight  hours 
a  day.  Miners  and  those  working  by  contract  could  not 
very  well  adopt  the  eight-hour  plan,  without  lengthening 


THE    SIN    OF    CHEAPNESS.  583 

their  hours  of  labor.  Before  giving  the  matter  a  second 
thought,  many  of  these  men  look  upon  the  eight-hour  agita- 
tion as  of  no  consequence  to  them.  If  a  mechanic  is  thrown 
out  of  employment,  and  cannot  find  anything  to  do  at  his 
trade,  he  turns  toward  the  first  place  where  an  opportunity 
for  work  is  presented.  If  he  is  re-enforced  by  two  million 
idle  men,  the  number  that  apply  at  the  mouth  of  the  mine, 
or  seek  to  secure  contracts  at  lower  figures,  becomes  quite 
large  ;  and  the  miner  and  contract-man  grumble,  because  so 
many  men  are  crowding  in  upon  them  in  quest  of  work. 
Every  new  applicant  for  work  in  the  mine  makes  it  possible 
for  the  boss  to  let  his  contract  to  a  lower  bidder ;  therefore,  it 
is  clearly  to  the  interest  of  the  miner  to  assist  in  reducing  the 
hours  of  labor  in  the  shop,  mill  and  factory,  to  the  end  that 
the  idle  millions  may  be  gathered  in  from  the  streets  to  self- 
sustaining  positions. 

The  eight-hour  system,  to  be  of  value  to  the  masses,  must 
be  put  in  operation  all  over  the  country  ;  for  the  manufacturers 
of  one  State  cannot  successfully  compete  with  those  of  other 
States,  if  they  run  their  establishments  but  eight  hours,  while 
others  operate  theirs  ten  or  twelve  hours  a  day.  The  move- 
ment should  be  national,  and  should  have  the  hearty  co-oper- 
ation of  all  men. 

A  Scottish  clergyman,  Dr.  Donald  Macleod,  in  a  sermon 
on  "  The  Sin  of  Cheapness,"  says  that  "  the  craving  for  cheap- 
ness and  hunting  after  bargains,  is  not  only  economically 
false,  but  a  cause  of  great  suffering  to  thousands  of  men, 
women  and  children."  If  men  worked  shorter  hours,  they 
would  learn  that  when  a  man  begins  to  look  for  cheap  bar- 
gains, he  strikes  a  blow  at  trade  everywhere.  The  employer 
looks  for  a  better  bargain  in  labor,  and  reduces  his  force  or 
hires  cheaper  men.  His  employee  must  practice  enforced 
economy,  which  is  no  saving  ;  he  drives  sharper  bargains  for 
articles  manufactured  by  others  ;  he  cannot  purchase  so  good 
an  article,  or  in  such  quantities,  as  before ;  and  the  effect  is 
felt  where  these  articles  are  made,  taking  the  shape  of  a  re- 
duction, either  in  the  working  force  or  in  the  wages.  When 
the  President  of  the  United  States  issued  his  Thanksgiving 


584  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

proclamation,  in  1884,  there  were  millions  of  men  and  women 
in  want  of  bread,  notwithstanding  "  the  abundant  harvests 
and  continued  prosperity  which  God  hath  vouchsafed  to  this 
na'tion  ; "  and  the  cry,  not  of  thanksgiving,  went  up  from  mil- 
lions of  farmers,  of  "  Too  much  wheat !"  Doubting  as  to  the 
exact  meaning  of  the  Creator  in  growing  so  much  wheat,  they 
invoked  the  aid  of  such  institutions  as  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade,  in  the  hope  of  thwarting  the  will  of  God,  by  corner- 
ing wheat.  These  men  invoked  blessings  on  their  Thanks- 
giving dinners,  and  thanked  God  for  the  turkey,  while  they 
hoarded  the  wheat  away  from  those  who  asked  for  bread. 

Give  men  shorter  hours  in  which  to  labor,  and  you  give 
them  more  time  to  study,  and  learn  why  bread  is  so  scarce, 
while  wheat  is  so  plenty.  You  give  them  more  time  in  which 
to  learn  that  millions  of  acres  of  American  soil  are  controlled 
by  alien  landlords,  that  have  no  interest  in  America  but  to 
draw  a  revenue  from  it.  You  give  them  time  to  learn  that 
America  belongs  to  Americans,  native  and  naturalized,  and 
that  the  landlord  who  drives  his  tenant  from  the  Old  World 
must  not  be  permitted  to  exact  tribute  from  him  when  he  set- 
tles in  our  country.  T.  V.  POWDERLY. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT    IN    CANADA. 

EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  CANADA  —  FIRST  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS — A  TYPO- 
GRAPHICAL UNION  —  FEELING  BETWEEN  RACES  —  FIRST  PRINTERS' 
UNION  —  OTHER  TRADE  ORGANIZATIONS  —  FIRST  PRINTERS' STRIKE  — 
THE  UNION  VICTORIOUS  —  A  BITTER  CONTEST — A  TRADES  COUNCIL 
—  ITS  CANDIDATE  ELECTED  —  ZEAL  OF  TORONTO  WORKINGMEN  —  A 
TRADES  CONGRESS  —  CANADIAN  LABOR  UNION  FORMED  —  FAVORABLE 
LABOR  LEGISLATION — THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR  APPEAR  —  THEIR 
RAPID  GROWTH  —  ADVANTAGES  OF  COMBINATION  —  SUCCESSFUL  CO- 
OPERATION. 

UP  to  1800,  Canada  was,  comparatively,  a  terra  incog- 
nita, except  to  a  few.  While  the  Province  of  Quebec 
was  peopled  by  the  descendants  of  its  early  French  conquer- 
ors and  masters,  excepting,  perhaps,  the  cities  of  Quebec  and 
Montreal,  and  a  scattered  colony  here  and  there  throughout 
the  eastern  townships  on  the  borders  of  the  United  States, 
where  a  sprinkling  of  English-speaking  people  were  to  be 
found,  only  the  northern  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
lakes  Huron  and  Erie  on  the  eastern  and  southern  boundary 
of  Ontario  had  an  English-speaking  population.  In  many 
instances  these  settlements  were  long  distances  apart,  and  the 
only  means  of  travel  was  by  water  in  the  summer  season, 
and  in  the  winter  by  sleighs  on  the  ice.  In  the  Province  of 
Quebec  the  bitterness  engendered  by  difference  of  race,  and 
which  found  vent  in  many  a  local  and  violent  struggle,  had 
its  effect  in  preventing  for  a  long  time  that  cohesion  of  ele- 
ments in  the  ranks  of  those  who  worked  for  wrages.  The 
rebellion  of  1837,  and  the  subsequent  burning  of  the  Parlia- 
ment House  in  Montreal,  years  afterwards,  tended  in  no 
small  degree  to  intensify  this  feeling  between  the  races,  and 
to  its  continuance  for  many  years  afterwards. 

Despite  all  this,  however,  labor  organizations  had  begun 
their  work  in  Lower  Canada,  as  the  Province  of  Quebec  was 

(585) 


586  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

then  called  ;  for  as  early  as  1834,  and,  perhaps,  before  that 
period,  the  shoemakers  were  holding  their  meetings  regularly 
in  the  city  of  Montreal,  and  at  the  same  time  and  to  that 
extent,  at  least,  serving  as  a  model  for,  as  well  as  in  a  degree 
educating,  their  less  fortunate  brothers  in  other  callings  in 
the  directions  in  which  every  calling  or  trade  has,  at  irregu- 
lar intervals,  drifted  since  that  time.  There  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  this  old  and  often  sorely-tried  organization  has 
ever,  for  a  moment,  ceased  from  that  time  until  the  present 
moment  to  exist  in  Canada  ;  and  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  most 
conservative  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  wealthy  labor  organi- 
zations of  an  international  character  in  the  Dominion. 

Contrary  to  the  general  idea  prevalent  in  Canada,  to  the 
French-speaking  artisans  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  belongs 
the  credit  of  originating  in  Canada  the  formation  of  labor 
"circles  "  or  unions  ;  for  we  find  that  as  far  back  as  1827  the 
printers  in  the  city  of  Quebec  had  a  local  Union,  the  scope  of 
which  embraced,  besides  the  regulation  of  wages  and  the  care 
of  its  members  while  incapacitated  from  pursuing  their  call- 
ing through  illness,  the  delivery  of  lectures,  reading  of  essays, 
and  the  holding  of  entertainments  of  a  musical  character. 
The  Union  was  merged  into  the  National  Typographical 
Union  at  Cincinnati,  in  1852,  and  that  again  in  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  at  Albany,  in  1869. 

It  has  been  an  unfortunate  and  too  common  habit,  not  yet 
altogether  forgotten,  on  the  part  of  English-speaking  trades- 
unionists  to  reflect  in  no  flattering  terms  upon  the  manhood 
of  French-Canadian  artisans  and  workmen  generally.  But 
ample  experience  has  conclusively  proven  that  where  these 
people  have  had  extended  to  them  that  cordiality  and  frater- 
nal treatment  to  which  as  men  they  were  of  right  entitled, 
then  were  they  found  second  to  none  in  battling  for  justice 
and  right.  Before  being  severely  critical  as  to  our  fellow- 
workingmen  of  French  extraction,  as  to  their  want  of  knowl- 
edge as  to  what  may  be  and  is  expected  at  their  hands,  when 
they  find  themselves  away  from  their  homes  and  among 
English-speaking  people,  it  should  be  remembered  that  their 
means  of  learning  of  current  events  in  the  labor  world  are  very 


CANADIAN  PRINTERS'  UNIONS.  =587 

circumscribed  and  limited;  as,  outside  of  the  cities  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  there  are  comparatively  few,  if  any,  daily 
newspapers  published  in  that  Province  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. If  trades-unions  in  the  Province  of  Quebec  have  not 
been  as  successful  in  the  past  as  in  other  sections  of  the 
Dominion,  it  is  primarily  because  of  want  of  tact  and  judg- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  English-speaking  section  in  attempt- 
ing, in  every  instance,  to  have  everything  their  own  way, 
despite  the  fact  of  being  almost  always  in  a  minority. 

In  Upper  Canada,  —  now  Ontario,  —  as  in  Lower  Canada, 
we  find  that  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  and  printers  are  the 
oldest  as  to  organization,  for  at  the  present  time  Toronto 
Typographical  Union  No.  91  is  in  possession  of  the  minute 
books  of  the  Printers'  Union  or  Society  of  "Little  York,"  the 
name  by  which  Toronto  was  known  prior  to  its  incorporation 
as  a  city  under  its  present  title  some  fifty-three  years  ago. 
The  printers  of  Toronto  were  the  first  in  Canada  to  affiliate 
with  the  International  Typographical  Union,  their  charter 
number  being  No.  91  of  that  body.  They  were  followed  by 
Ottawa,  No.  102;  Hamilton,  No.  129;  Halifax,  N.  S.,  No. 
130;  London,  Ont.,  No.  133;  Jacques  Cartier,  Montreal, 
No.  145  ;  Quebec,  No.  159  (French)  ;  Quebec,  No.  160 
(English),  Quebec;  Montreal,  No.  176,  Montreal;  and  later 
still  by  those  of  St.  Catherine's  and  Kingston,  in  Ontario. 
To  the  printers  of  Canada  belongs  the  principal  credit  in  all 
that  has  been  done  in  the  direction  of  organizing  and  edu- 
cating the  artisan  classes  of  that  country.  Notwithstanding 
this  fact,  however,  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  other  trades 
were  none  the  less  active  in  the  work ;  for  we  find  the  stone 
masons,  the  bricklayers  and  the  blacksmiths  each  organized, 
at  least  at  Ottawa,  in  1868-9,  and  it  may  be  previously,  in 
Toronto.  During  the  years  mentioned,  and  for  many  years 
afterwards,  hosts  of  men  were  employed  directly  as  well  as 
indirectly  in  providing  materials  for,  or  in  the  erection  of  the 
Dominion  Parliamentary  and  Departmental  buildings  then  be- 
ing under  construction  in  that  city.  It  is  needless  to  remark 
that  during  the  many  years  so  many  men  were  congregated  at 
one  place,  and  having  to  deal  with  contractors  of  the  usual 


588  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

character  engaged  in  such  heavy  undertakings,  more  than 
one  "  difficulty  "  arose  ;  but  they  usually  terminated  in  favor  of 
the  workers ;  for  even  if  their  organizations  were  not  as  com- 
pact and  as  well  versed  in  the  necessity  and  advantages  of 
cohesion  and  unity  as  at  the  present  day,  yet  the  population 
from  which  to  supply  their  places  when  on  strike  was  not  so 
numerous,  nor  was  the  skilled  labor  market  subject  to  the 
periodical  congestion  to  be  witnessed  at  a  later  period. 

In  the  early  part  of  1866,  the  first  steps  were  taken  by  the 
printers,  at  Ottawa,  to  organize  themselves  into  a  Union. 
They  met  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  a  private  school-room, 
the  free  use  of  which  was  kindly  granted  for  the  occasion  by 
an  old  and  respected  school  teacher,  whose  son  was  a  printer 
and  had  served  in  Colonel  Ellsworth's  famous  Zouaves  in  the 
early  days  of  the  United  States  Civil  War.  Officers  were 
elected  -pro  tern.,  and  steps  were  taken  to  secure  a  charter 
under  the  National  Union.  On  the  following  Monday  morn- 
ing it  was  announced  in  some  of  the  printing-offices  that  the 
proprietors  had  determined  to  raise  the  current  rate  of  wages 
one  dollar  per  week.  Up  to  this  time  wages,  such  as  they 
were,  —  for  each  man  made  his  own  bargain,  — were  paid  in 
such  manner  and  at  such  times  as  suited  the  convenience  or  the 
whim  of  the  employer.  "  Store  orders  "  on  advertisers  were 
tendered  more  often  than  ready  money,  and  the  consequence 
to  the  worker  was  that,  besides  being  often  obliged  to  purchase 
goods  he  was  in  no  need  of,  he  was  unblushingly  "  plucked  " 
by  the  store-keeper.  There  was  no  allowance  made  for  over- 
time, and  it  was  surprising  how  much  of  it  was  exacted. 
From  thenceforward  a  marked  improvement  in  the  life  of  the 
printer  in  that  city  evinced  itself,  although  the  first  president 
elected,  —  a  Mr.  Bradford, — and  some  of  the  others  who 
took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the  Union, "  found  their 
vocation  gone,"  and  had  to  depart  for  "pastures  new."  In 
1870,  the  then  government  printing  contractor  made  the  first 
direct  assault  on  this  original  Union,  No.  102.  He  imported 
printers  from  England,  but  most  of  them  refused  to  work 
against  the  strikers,  who  were  "out"  because  he  tried  to 
employ  non-union  men,  and  he  ultimately  succumbed.  In 


OTTAWA    TRADES    COUNCIL. 

1873  the  same  contractor  attempted  a  reduction  of  wages, 
which  caused  a  fight  of  many  weeks.  The  strikers  received 
financial  aid  from  all  over  the  country.  The  contractor  again 
imported  many  men  from  England.  The  government  itself 
aided  the  contractor  in  many  ways.  But  very  few  of  the  new 
men,  on  learning  how  matters  stood,  would  take  the  place  of 
the  strikers.  The  contractor  was  unable  to  comply  with  the 
terms  of  his  contract,  and  it  was  given  to  McLean,  Rogers 
&  Co.,  who  still  hold  it.  Mr.  Rogers,  of  the  firm,  was 
Secretary  of  the  Union  during  the  troubles,  and  has  always 
kept  his  office  a  "union"  one. 

In  this  year,  1873,  also,  owing  to  the  rapid  increase  in  the 
formation  of  local  trades-unions,  a  Trades  Council  was  organ- 
ized in  Ottawa,  which  was  of  more  than  passing  importance 
to  the  cause  of  labor  in  Canada  in  after  years ;  because, 
being  at  the  seat  of  the  Dominion  Government,  it  was  in  a 
position  to  exercise  its  functions  not  only  in  matters  affecting 
local  interests,  but  also  in  pressing  upon  members  of  Parlia- 
ment the  desires  and  the  views  of  like  and  other  labor  bodies 
wherever  situate  throughout  Canada.  One  of  the  first  sub- 
jects that  engaged  this  Trades  Council  after  its  organization 
was  the  necessity  existing  for  direct  labor  representation  in 
both  Dominion  and  Provincial  Parliaments,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  to  make  the  attempt 
in  Ottawa.  This  came  sooner  than  anticipated,  but  the 
Trades  Council  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  The  Legislature 
of  Ontario  having  previously  repealed  the  "Property  Quali- 
fication" clause  in  the  law  governing  or  respecting  candidates 
for  election  to  that  body,  and  a  vacancy  arising  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  that  city  in  the  Provincial  Legislature,  the  then 
President  of  the  Trades  Council  was  selected  and  put  in 
nomination  as  the  workingmen's  candidate  as  an  Independ- 
ent, and  under  the  express  instruction  that  under  no  consid- 
eration was  he  to  pledge  himself  to  either  of  the  existing 
political  parties.  This  unlooked-for  and  unexpected  action 
on  the  part  of  "mere  workingmen"  was  more  than  a  sur- 
prise to  the  old-time  political  manipulators,  as  well  as  to  the 
"shoddy  aristocracy"  of  the  Fexleral  capital.  An  active 


59°  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

campaign  was  entered  upon.  One  political  party  had  its 
nominee  in  the  field  previous  to  the  nomination  by  the  Trades 
Council.  The  opposite  party  offered  conditional  support  to 
the  labor  candidate.  This  was  promptly  declined.  But, 
despite  this,  the  party  making  the  offer  voted  unconditionally 
for  the  labor  candidate,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  large  major- 
ity. He  was  re-elected  ki  1874,  despite  the  fact  that,  having 
breathing-time  to  recover  from  the  surprise  and  result  of  the 
previous  contest,  both  political  parties  put  strong  and  experi- 
enced campaigners  in  the  field.  In  the  elections  of  1879,  he 
declined  to  accept  a  party  nomination,  and  was  defeated,  not 
by  any  defection  of  former  supporters,  but  by  their  removal 
to  other  fields  of  labor.  His  career  as  a  legislator  was  very 
creditable,  and  much  favorable  labor  legislation  now  in  force 
is  due  to  his  efforts. 

While  the  workingmen  of  Ottawa  were  thus  engaged,  their 
brothers  in  Toronto  and  Hamilton  were  by  no  means  idle. 
The  latter  city  sent  a  workingman  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
who  rendered  efficient  service  to  the  cause  of  organized  labor. 
He  failed  of  re-election  by  reason  of  not  having  met  the 
wishes  of  all  his  constituents,  who  did  not  understand  the 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  particular  representative. 

To  the  workingmen  of  Toronto  is  mainly  due  the  solidity 
and  permanence  of  labor  organisations  in  Canada.  In  this 
city,  in  1872,  these  organizations  first  determined  on  a  nine- 
hours  day.  The  effort  was  only  partially  successful,  but  it  led 
to  a  new  era  of  labor  reform  through  the  whole  country.  By 
previous  arrangement,  the  Typographical  Union  led  the  van 
in  this  movement.  Organization  by  the  laborers  led  to  coun- 
ter organization  among  the  employers.  The  latter  invoked 
the  aid  of  the  Government,  and  caused  the  arrest  of  leading 
members  of  the  Typographical  .Union  on  the  charge  of  con- 
spiracy. Without  following  the  extremely  interesting  details 
of  this  contest,  conducted  on  each  side  with  great  skill  and 
vigor,  suffice  it  to  say  that  ultimately  the  prosecutions  were 
dropped,  and  the  Union  gained  the  nine-hours  day.  No 
other  Union  fought  for  or  gained  like  concessions  at  that  time, 
although  to-day  many  labor  organizations  enjoy  like  hours, 


CANADIAN    LABOR    UNION    ORGAMZKI).  591 

while  the  stone-cutters  work  but  eight.  Despite  all  attacks  on 
them,  the  Bricklayers'  and  Iron-moulders'  International  Unions 
of  Canada  are  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Nor  have  purely 
local  Unions,  such  as  the  Operative  Tailors,  the  Painters,  the 
Stone-masons,  the  Builders'  Laborers,  the  Plasterers,  and  the 
Lathers,  in  Ontario,  as  well  as  ship  laborers  in  the  city  of 
Quebec,  in  the  Province  of  the  same  name,  ever  been  found 
wanting  in  their  efforts  when  called  on  to  assist  one  another, 
or  to  insist  upon  their  rights  as  freemen  and  citizens. 

As  an  outcome  of  the  agitations  throughout  the  province  of 
Ontario  during  the  previous  few  years,  and  to  which  great 
stimulus  was  given  by  the  printers'  strikes  at  Ottawa  and 
Toronto,  already  referred  to,  Toronto  Trades  Assembly  called 
a  convention  of  organized  labor  bodies  throughout  the 
country  to  meet  in  Toronto,  September  23,  1883.  Although 
the  existence  and  principles  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  were  not 
even  known  by  this  convention,  yet  it  arrived  at  the  same 
conclusions  on  many  questions  as  the  Knights  had  already 
reached,  showing  how  the  spirit  of  education  and  thought  was 
abroad  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  was  dreamed  of  by  either 
party,  even  at  that  time.  This  convention  sat  for  three  days, 
and  may  be  credited  with  being  the  first  step  taken  in  Canada 
to  give  light  and  direction,  as  well  as  oneness  of  aim  to  the 
Trades  Unions  of  Canada.  The  bodies  represented  were  : 
Toronto  Trades  Assembly,  Amalgamated  Engineers, 
Toronto;  Coopers  No.  13,  of  Ontario,  St.  Catharine's; 
Coopers  No.  8,  of  Seaforth ;  Iron  Moulders  No.  26,  of 
Hamilton  ;  Coopers  No.  17,  of  Ontario,  Bowmanville ;  Typo- 
graphical Union  No.  91,  of  Toronto  ;  Bakers  Union,  Toronto  ; 
Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  St.  Catharine's;  Knights  of  St. 
Crispin  315,  Toronto;  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  159,  Toronto; 
Iron  Moulders  189,  Cobourg  ;  Coopers  No.  3,  of  Ontario, 
Toronto ;  Amalgamated  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  London ; 
Bricklayers  and  Masons,  Toronto  ;  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  212, 
Hamilton;  Machinists  and  Blacksmiths  No.  i,  of  Ontario, 
Toronto  ;  Bricklayers  and  Masons,  Ottawa  ;  Tailors,  Ottawa  ; 
Carpenters  and  Joiners,  Ottawa ;  Typographical  Union  No. 
102,  Ottawa  ;  Tailors,  St.  Catharine's  ;  Operative  Tailors,  To- 


592  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

ronto  ;  Free  Stone  Cutters,  Ottawa  ;  'Longshoremen,  Toronto  ; 
Limestone  Cutters,  Ottawa  ;  Painters,  Toronto  ;  Machinists 
and  Blacksmiths  No.  2,  Hamilton;  Knights  of  St.  Crispin 
242,  London  ;  Amalgamated  Engineers,  Hamilton,  and  Iron 
Moulders  Union  No.  28,  of  Toronto.  Mr.  J.  W.  Carter, 
President  of  the  Toronto  Trades  Assembly,  voiced  the  spirit 
and  views  of  the  Canadian  labor  reformers  of  1873  in  his  ad- 
dress on  the  formal  opening  of  the  convention.  He  alluded 
to  the  significance  of  such  a  convention  ;  said  the  interests  of 
labor  must  be  taken  hold  of  by  the  workingmen  ;  urged  the 
identity  of  interest  of  Capital  and  Labor  ;  and  advocated  laws 
that  should  make  no  distinction  of  man  as  man.  He  said  the 
necessity  of  establishing  a  Canadian  Labor  Union  was  beyond 
doubt,  and  showed  how  the  workingmen  by  organization 
could  secure  representation  in  legislation.  In  accordance 
with  his  suggestions,  the  convention  resolved  itself  into  the 
"Canadian  Labor  Union,"  electing  J.  W.  Carter,  of  Toronto, 
as  its  first  President;  D.  J.  O'Donoghue,  of  Ottawa,  Vice- 
President,  and  J.  Hewitt,  of  Toronto,  Secretary.  A  consti- 
tution was  adopted,  the  preamble  of  which  indicated  in  no  un- 
certain language  the  motives  actuating  its  founders,  and 
which  was  in  the  following  language  :  — 

Whereas,  the  workingmen  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  in  common  with; 
the  intelligent  producers  of  the  world,  feel  the  necessity  of  co-operate  and 
harmonious  action  to  secure  their  mutual  interests,  just  compensation  for 
their  toil,  and  such  limitation  of  the  hours  of  labor  as  may  tend  to  promote 
their  physical  and  intellectual  well-being,  and  believing  that  the  causes  which 
have  operated  in  the  past  to  the  detriment  of  labor  may  nearly  always  be 
traced  to  the  want  of  proper  organization  in  the  various  branches  of  industry  ; 

Therefore,  to  unite  the  energies  of  all  classes  of  labor  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada,  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  their  inherent  rights,  we,  the  represent- 
atives of  the  workingmen  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  in  convention  assem- 
bled, do  hereby  enact  and  adopt  the  following  constitution. 

The  committees  on  "Hours  of  Labor,"  "Arbitration," 
"  Organization,"  "  Prison  Contract  Labor,"  "Cheap  and 
Imported  Labor,"  "Labor  Bureau"  and  "Legislation," 
made  reports,  which  were  adopted,  showing  that  the  pioneers 
and  veterans  in  the  labor  cause  in  Canada  in  1873  and  of 
years  before  had  given  more  than  passing  attention  to  these 


LABOR    IN    POLITICS. 


593 


problems,  which  are  not  yet  solved  ;  that  their  views  were 
abreast  of  the  most  advanced  of  that  time  ;  and  that  they 
were  such  as  would  be  acceptable  to  the  leading  labor  re- 
formers of  to-day. 

On  the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  of  August,  1874,  tne  next 
sessions  of  the  Canada  Labor  Union  were  held  in  a  large 
committee  room  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  the  Dominion 
at  Ottawa  ;  and  in  1875,  at  the  city  of  St.  Catharine's,  on  the 
third,  fourth  and  fifth  of  August  of  that  year.  On  both  occa- 
sions the  work  inaugurated  at  the  meeting  held  in  Toronto  in 
1873  was  furthered  and  elaborated  with  vigor,  many  charters 
being  issued  to  subordinate  and  newly  organized  bodies  under 
the  seal  of  the  central  body.  The  executive  had  worked  un- 
tiringly and  with  vigor  in  bringing  to  the  attention  of  the 
Legislatures  the  questions  determined  on  ;  and  in  1874,  being 
meanwhile  elected  to  the  Provincial  Legislature,  Mr.  D.  J. 
O'Donoghue  introduced  and  had  passed  the  bill  entitled  "A.n 
Act  establishing  Liens  in  favor  of  Mechanics,  Machinists, 
Laborers  and  others;"  in  1877,  "An  Act  to  amend  the  Act 
respecting  Master  and  Servant;"  and,  again,  in  1878,  "An 
Act  to  amend  the  Mechanics'  Lien  Act,  1874;"  "An  Act 
exempting  $25  of  a  workingman's  wages  from  garnishee;"' 
and  contributed  during  his  term  to  the  enactment  of  other 
laws  beneficial  to  wage-earners.  During  these  years  was 
continued  a  vigorous  and  healthy  agitation  in  all  labor  centres 
and  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  favor  of,  or  against,  such 
legislation  as  had  been  indicated  as  beneficial  or  otherwise  by 
the  several  sessions  of  the  Canada  Labor  Union. 

In  1873,  the  criminal  law  was  amended  so  as  not  to  render 
trades-unionists  liable  in  certain  cases  as  conspirators  ;  and 
in  1876,  the  Masters'  and  Servants'  Act  was  so  amended  that 
breaches  of  contract  under  it  were  no  longer  criminal,  but 
merely  breaches  of  civil  contract.  Owing  principally  to 
stagnation  of  business,  the  Canada  Labor  Union  practically 
ceased  to  exist  as  a  body  after  its  session  at  St.  Catherine's, 
in  1875. 

In  1876  came  the  strike  of  the  locomotive  engineers,  fol- 
lowed by  legislation  providing  that  passenger  and  mail  trains 


594  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT, 

must  make  their  through  journey  without  a  strike  by  the 
employees.  In  1882  came  the  act  to  establish  a  Bureau  of 
Industries,  of  which  Mr.  Archibald  Blue,  a  journalist  of  ex- 
perience, ability  and  untiring  energy,  was  made  secretary. 
His  reports  have  already  become  a  valuable  aid  in  determin- 
ing many  important  labor  questions.  In  1881  the  twenty- 
ninth  annual  session  of  the  International  Typographical 
Union  was  held  in  Toronto.  The  trades-assembly  there  had 
ceased  to  exist ;  but  as  a  result  of  this  meeting,  a  trades  and 
labor  council  sprang  into  existence,  which  has  had  great  in- 
fluence for  labor  reform  ever  since.  It  summoned  a  Labor 
Congress  in  December,  1883,  which  was  very  successful. 
Mr.  Charles  March  was  its  permanent  chairman. 

In  the  fall  of  1881  the  first  local  assembly  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor  in  Canada  was  organized  in  Hamilton,  the  cere- 
mony being  performed  in  the  basement  of  the  Canada  Life 
Assurance  Building,  then  in  process  of  construction.  Others 
began  their  existence  in  that  city  in  comparatively  rapid 
succession  thereafter.  The  first  assembly  still  exists  as  a 
Painters' Assembly.  At  a  subsequent  period,  District  Assem- 
bly No.  60  was  formed  in  the  city  of  Hamilton,  with  dele- 
gates from  some  twenty-five  local  bodies  of  the  Order.  Ham- 
ilton was  not  destined  to  monopolize  the  existence  of  Knights 
of  Labor  for  a  lengthy  period,  however,  for  on  August  27th 
of  the  following  year  the  telegraphers  of  Toronto  were  or- 
ganized as  a  local  assembly  of  the  Order,  under  the  title  of 
"Morse  No.  2163."  This  was  the  first  assembly  organized 
at  this  date  in  any  part  of  Canada  outside  of  Hamilton. 
About  five  weeks  afterwards  the  factory  shoemakers,  Local 
Assembly  2211,  were  organized ;  and  these  were  followed  in 
the  spring  of  1883  by  the  organization  of  the  first  "  mixed  " 
Local,  being  No.  2305,  which  in  after  days,  although  small 
in  its  membership,  under  many  difficulties  upheld  the  banner 
of  that  Order,  when  its  very  existence  in  Toronto  was  in 
doubt. 

During  the  great  strike  of  the  telegraphers  against  the 
Western  Union,  which  began  on  July  19,  1883,  almost  every 
telegrapher  in  Canada  was  found  within  their  ranks,  and  they 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    KNIGHTS    IN    CANADA.  595 

did  all  that  was  possible  to  secure  a  successful  termination  of 
the  contest.  To  offset  the  defeat  of  this  strike,  the  leaders 
of  Mixed  Local  Assembly  No.  2305,  of  Toronto,  which  num- 
bered only  about  twenty  members,  introduced  public  lectures 
on  the  principles  of  the  Order.  Captain  Richard  F.  Trevel- 
lick,  of  Detroit,  was  first  invited.  His  first  audience  num- 
bered only  twenty  persons.  His  effort  bore  abundant  fruit, 
however,  and  his  audiences  since  have  always  been  very 
large.  General  Master  Workman  Powderly  followed  Cap- 
tain Trevellick,  and  his  reception  was  never  surpassed  by 
that  of  any  public  personage  in  that  city,  many  Canadians  of 
note  being  on  the  platform  with  him.  Then  came  a  turn  in 
the  tide,  and  assemblies  sprang  up  in  a  marvelous  degree 
everywhere  in  Ontario.  There  are  now  no  less  than  six  dis- 
trict assemblies  in  Canada;  that  of  Toronto,  No.  125,  having 
representatives  from  some  forty  local  assemblies.  The  Order 
has  ever  been  watchful  for  the  interests  of  Labor.  In  1884,  it 
not  only  prevented  the  passage  of  an  obnoxious  life  insur- 
ance bill,  but  secured  an  amendment  making  legal  the  cheap 
insurance  schemes  of  the  labor  bodies  in  Canada,  and  that 
its  provisions  should  not  apply  to  bodies  doing  an  insurance 
business  solely  within  their  membership.  Mr.  D.  J.  O'Don- 
oghue,  representing  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  Mr.  J.  W. 
Carter,  representing  the  Sons  of  England,  were  especially* 
instrumental  in  securing  this  legislation.  The  anxiety  to 
have  direct  representation  in  both  Houses  is  heightened  by 
the  fact  that  while  constantly  improving  labor-saving  machin- 
ery, both  in  factory,  workshop  and  farm,  is  rapidly  forcing 
host  of  willing  hands  into  idleness,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  of  the  public  moneys  of  the  country  are  being  annu- 
ally voted  and  devoted  to  the."  assisting"  and  encouragement 
of  the  immigration  of  British  paupers  and  indigents  into 
Canada.  The  Dominion  Parliament  alone,  at  its  last  session, 
voted  $300,000  for  this  purpose,  despite  the  vehement  remon- 
strances of  the  various  labor  bodies  within  the  Dominion. 
Without  trenching  upon  the  domain  of  political  party  policies 
in  Canada,  it  may  be  said  that  that  country  presents  the 
anomaly  of  highly  protecting  home  manufactures  and  at  the 


596  THE    LABOR    MOVEMENT. 

same  time  handicapping  home  labor  by  actually  expending 
immense  sums  of  public  money  in  promoting  an  influx  of 
foreign  labor  to  still  further  hamper  the  chances  of  employ- 
ment for  its  own  people  in  the  labor  market.  There  is 
scarcely  a  doubt  but  that  with  unity  and  tact  on  the  part  of 
trades-unionists  and  Knights  of  Labor,  a  radical  change  in 
this  and  other  equally  important  directions  can  and  will  be 
secured  in  the  near  future  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

Nor  is  Co-operation,  both  productive  and  distributive,  being 
neglected,  since  the  existence  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  has 
become  a  fixed  fact  in  Canada.  Toronto  has  its  co-operative 
manufacturing  and  distributing  bakery  and  general  grocery 
store,  and  its  weekly  Labor  Record  newspaper;  Woodstock 
has  its  match-making  and  lumber-dressing  manufactory ;  and 
the  thriving  town  of  Chatham  has  just  applied  for  incorpora- 
tion under  Provincial  law  for  its  baking  and  biscuit  manufac- 
tory. And  so  this  good  work  will  continue  doubtless.  It  is 
the  firm  impression  of  every  true  labor  reformer  in  Canada 
that  as  peaceable  agitation  and  general  education  progress, 
the  Dominion  will  not  be  found  second  to  any  country  in  the 
world  in  the  good  work  of  remedying  the  disadvantages 
under  which  its  wage-earning  classes  labor,  and  in  securing 
that  ultimate  justice  for  all,  which  should  be  the  sole  aim  of 
every  form  of  government. 


APPENDIX. 


CIGAR-MAKERS'   INTERNATIONAL   UNION. 


THE  history  of  the  Cigar-makers'  International  Union  forms  an  integral 
part  of  the  general  labor  movement.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  its  development, 
numerous  mistakes  were  inevitable.  Its  growth  was  of  a  spontaneous  char- 
acter. From  the  shop-meeting  it  developed  by  successive  stages  into  a  union, 
local  in  its  character;  and,  finally,  it  culminated  in  the  National  and  Inter- 
national Unions. 

The  first  Cigar-makers'  Union  was  organized  on  May  5,  1851,  in  Baltimore, 
Md.,  at  that  time  one  of  the  leading  centres  in  the  cigar-trade.  In  order  to 
counteract  the  influence  of  the  union,  one  Tom  Little,  cigar-manufacturer, 
imported  a  large  number  of  cigar-makers  from  Bremen,  Germany. 

Between  1852  and  1853,  the  cigar-makers  employed  in  Mark  Sharkey's  shop, 
New  York  city,  numbering  between  sixty  and  seventy,  organized  a  union. 
The  chief  promoters  of  the  organization  consisted  of  English  and  German 
cigar-makers.  Shortly  after  this,  a  strike  occurred  in  South  Brooklyn,  against 
a  reduction  of  wages  on  a  California  cigar.  It  resulted  in  a  failure.  The 
various  nationalities  represented  in  the  union  did  not  harmonize.  Suspicion 
and  ill-feeling  prevented  the  growth  of  the  organization.  Only  160  out  of 
800  belonged  to  the  union,  which,  after  six  months,  ceased  to  exist. 

In  1859,  another  union  was  organized,  in  consequence  of  a  strike  in  Tom 
Little's  shop,  —  said  Little  having  migrated  from  Baltimore  to  New  York  city. 
The  grievances  were  of  a  general  nature.  The  union  numbered  250  members, 
and  lasted  ten  months.  It  was  the  means  of  preventing  several  reductions, 
thereby  demonstrating  its  usefulness.  Internal  dissensions,  arising  from  a 
diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  representation  in  the  board  of  management, 
brought  about  the  dissolution  of  the  union.  The  dues  were  a  shilling  a 
week. 

Prior  to  this,  in  1854,  the  cigar-makers  of  Troy,  Syracuse,  Rochester,  Utica, 
Albany  and  Auburn  decided  in  their  shop-meetings  to  call  a  State  convention, 
which  was  held  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  on  May  10  and  n,  1854.  The  object  of 
the  convention  was  to  establish  a  uniform  bill  of  prices  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  to  regulate  the  apprentice  system.  Mr.  John  G.  Woodruff,  of  Troy, 
presided,  and  Mr.  Theodore  Fitzgerald,  of  Syracuse,  acted  as  secretary.  The 
cigar-manufacturers  from  Syracuse  and  surrounding  towns  were  present,  and 
took  part  in  the  deliberations.  The  convention  lasted  two  days  ;  but  no  per- 
manent organization  was  formed.  Nevertheless,  the  prices  established  were 

597 


598  APPENDIX. 

generally  adhered  to.    "  Scabs"  were  held  in  such  abhorrence  that  they  could 
not  show  themselves  in  fair  s"hops. 

In  1855,  a  large  strike  occurred  in  Suffield,  Conn.,  for  an  increase  of  wages. 
A  meeting  was  held,  in  which  five  hundred  cigar-makers  from  Suffield  and 
surrounding  towns  participated.  The  strike  lasted  between  six  and  seven 
weeks,  and  was  financially  supported  by  the  cigar-makers  of  New  York, 
Albany,  Syracuse,  Troy,  Westfield,  Springfield  and  Fredenhills.  The  major- 
ity of  the  strikers  left  in  quest  of  employment.  The  strike  was  finally  settled 
by  a  compromise.  In  1860  and  the  following  years,  the  cigar-makers  organ- 
ized local  unions  spontaneously  all  over  the  country,  and  the  necessity  of  a 
closer  combination  was  generally  felt  among  the  workers.  A  preliminary 
conference  was  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  1863;  and,  on  June  21,  1864, 
the  National  Union  was  organized  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  delegates  to  the  convention,  numbering  twenty-three,  represented 
local  unions  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, Rhode  Island  and  Michigan.  Mr.  Thomas  Harrock,  of  Suffield, 
Conn.,  was  elected  temporary  chairman,  and  Mr.  Charles  Baker,  of  Phila- 
delphia, secretary. 

The  following  resolutions,  explaining  the  objects  of  the  convention,  were 
adopted  :  — 

"  Believing  that  the  time  has  arrived  whereby  the  more  perfect  union  of  all 
local  unions  with  one  grand  national  union,  the  object  sought  to  be  obtained, 
viz.  :  the  welfare  of  the  cigar-makers  as  workingmen,can  be  better  attained  by 
being  under  one  head.  Therefore,  we,  the  delegates  assembled  in  New  York 
city,  June  21,  1864,  adopt  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  cigar-makers'  unions  throughout  the  United 
States,  do  hereby  unite  ourselvec  by  forming  a  national  union,  for  the  better 
protection  of  our  trade,  and  for  the  advancement  of  our  craft  in  general,  and 
under  such  laws  as  adopted  by  this  body,  and  adopted  by  two-thirds  of  local 
unions. 

"  Resolved,  That  our  first  object  should  be  to  unite  the  good  cause,  and 
earnestly  request  all  unions  to  organize  to  aid  us  in  so  doing,  and  extend  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship  to  them. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  request  all  cigar-makers  to  immediately 
organize  themselves  into  unions,  and  when  they  are  not  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  sustain  themselves  as  a  union,  it  shall  be  their  duty  to  join  the  union  near- 
est to  them,  in  the  county  or  district  irt  which  they  work. 

"Resolved,  That  no  cigar-maker  coming  from  any  city,  county  or  district, 
who  is  not  a  member  of  a  union,  if  any  exists,  from  whence  he  came,  be 
allowed  to  become  a  member  of  the  union  where  he  has  come  to  obtain  em- 
ployment, or  be  allowed  to  work  in  said  city,  county  or  district,  until  he  has 
been  admitted  as  a  member  in  the  place  from  whence  he  came. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  discountenance  the  practice  of  any  unions  allowing 
its  members  to  work  in  a  shop  or  manufactory  that  employs  no  union  men 
working  for  them  out  of  the  shop  or  manufactory. 

"  Resolved,  That  any  cigar-maker  having  a  card  from  any  union  acknowl- 
edging the  authority  of  the  National  Union,  may,  by  depositing  this  card, 
become  a  member  free  of  charge,  provided  he  has  not  violated  the  laws  of 
said  union." 


APPENDIX.  599 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for  the  ensuing  term  :  President,  A. 
Zeitler,  Albany;  Vice-President.  D.  W.  Donaghy,  Philadelphia;  English 
Recording  Secretary,  S.  W.  Holmes,  Newark,  N.  J. ;  German  Recording  Sec- 
retary, A.  Dans,  Cincinnati ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Charles  Baker,  Phila- 
delphia; Treasurer,  J.  Bronk,  Boston.  One  of  the  grievances  of  cigar-makers 
was  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  them  by  the  permit-system  in  the  revenue 
laws,  which  was  condemned  by  strong  and  sarcastic  resolutions. 

The  objects  of  the  National  Union  are  thus  stated  in  the  first  constitution  : 
"To  facilitate  the  thorough  organization  of  the  trade  it  represents  for  the 
mutual  benefit  and  protection ;  to  secure  co-operation  whenever  it  may  be 
required,  and  to  decide  all  differences  that  may  arise  between  local  unions." 
The  Second  Convention  of  the  National  Union  was  held  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
on  September  5,  1865.  The  local  unions  were  represented  by  twenty-four  dele- 
gates. The  secretary  in  his  report  said  that,  since  the  first  convention,  the 
National  Union  had  an  increase  of  five  unions;  that  a  number  of  local  unions 
decreased  in  membership,  because  a  large  number  of  members  had  enlisted 
in  the  army  to  battle  for  the  country.  A  great  many  had  laid  down  their  lives 
on  the  altar  of  patriotism,  —  among  them,  Andrew  J.  Zeitler,  president  of  the 
National  Cigar-makers'  Union.  The  receipts  were  $191.05;  expenditures, 
$237.67 ;  deficiency,  $46.62.  The  aggregate  membership  of  the  National 
Union  was  984.  A  special  committee  reported  the  indictment  of  a  number 
of  members  of  the  local  union  of  Syracuse,  under  the  conspiracy  laws  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  committee  said:  "The  National  Union  takes  a 
wider  view  of  the  contest  than  the  mere  local  interest  and  safety  of  the  Syra- 
cuse union,  and  feels  that  the  whole  craft  is  endangered;  that  for  the  bosses 
of  Syracuse  to  succeed  would  make  the  associating  together,  for  protective 
purposes,  both  profitless  and  dangerous."  The  convention  pledged  itself  to 
sustain  those  members  before  the  court.  It  recommended  that  the  members 
should  subscribe  for  the  following  labor  papers  :  The  Wor king-man' 's  Advocate, 
of  Chicago;  Fincher1  sTra.de  Review,  of  Philadelphia;  Detroit  Daily  Union, 
and  the  Daily  Press,  of  St.  Louis.  The  following  article,  characteristic  of  its 
time,  was  engrafted  in  the  constitution:  "No  person  shall  be  eligible  to 
membership  in  this  union,  unless  he  be  a  white  male  of  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  has  served  an  apprenticeship  of  not  less  than  three  years."  L.  C. 
Walker,  of  Baltimore,  was  elected  president,  and  Charles  Baker,  of  Philadel- 
phia, secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  Third  Annual  Convention  of  the  National  Union  convened  on  Septem- 
ber 4,  1866,  at  Baltimore.  The  unions  were  represented  by  twenty-nine  dele- 
gates and  thirteen  proxies.  The  following  is  quoted  from  the  president's 
report:  "The  first  question  that  presented  itself,  after  the  last  convention, 
was,  How  to  provide  for  unions  on  strike?  The  absence  of  all  laws  upon  the 
subject  by  which  we  should  be  governed,  was  seriously  felt  at  the  start.  A 
protracted  and  lengthy  correspondence  between  the  secretary  and  myself  en- 
sued, but  nothing  definite  was  arrived  at.  Finally,  the  secretary  deemed  it  his 
duty  to  visit  me  for  consultation  ;  the  result  was  the  adoption  of  the  present 
system  of  voluntary  contributions.  Under  the  circumstances,  this  was  thought 
to  be  the  most  effectual  mode  of  accomplishing  the  desired  object."  The  sec- 
retary of  the  National  Union,  Mr.  Baker,  reported  that,  since  the  last  conven- 
tion, thirty-seven  new  unions  organized,  four  disbanded,  leaving  in  good 


6OO  APPENDIX. 

standing  sixty-two  unions.  Five  unions  engaged  in  strikes  against  reduction 
of  wages,  and  other  causes,  of  which  three  were  successful.  The  assistance 
rendered  in  aid  of  these  strikes  amounted  to  $2,618.09.  The  receipts  for 
the  management  of  the  organization  from  capitation-tax,  and  charter-fees, 
amounted  to  $531.30;  the  expenditures,  $483.83;  leaving  a  balance  in  treas- 
ury of  $47.47.  The  election  of  officers  resulted  in  the  re-election  of  Mr.  L.  C. 
Walker  as  president,  and  Charles  Baker  as  secretary.  A  resolution  was 
adopted  directing  the  officers  to  communicate  with  the  cigar-makers'  unions 
of  Great  Britain  and  other  countries,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  unfair 
men  to  join  the  unions  in  the  United  States  at  the  regular  initiation-fee,  with- 
out the  payment  of  fine.  The  question  of  obnoxious  revenue  laws  and  "  per- 
mit "-system,  came  up  for  discussion,  and  resolutions  were  adopted  declaring 
that  the  only  fair  way  of  taxing  tobacco  was  upon  the  leaf,  so  that  the  whole 
consumption  of  tobacco  will  pay  equal  revenue,  and  be  a  sure  means  of  pre- 
venting fraud;  that,  if  the  tax  could  not  be  levied  on  the  leaf,  the  laws  be 
amended  so  that  the  different  grades  of  smoking-tobacco  would  pay  a  tax 
nearly  equal  to  that  levied  on  cigars  per  pound ;  that  a  specific  tax  would  be 
next  fairest;  that  the  "  permit  and  account  system,"  was  obnoxious  and  de- 
grading. A  resolution  was  also  adopted  in  favor  of  eight  hours  as  a  legal 
day's  work. 

The  Fourth  Annual  Convention  was  held  in  Buffalo,  September  2,  1867, 
and  forty-two  delegates  were  present. 

Mr.  John  J.  Junio,  of  Syracuse,  was  elected  president,  and  Mr.  Charles 
Baker,  of  Philadelphia,  secretary-treasurer. 

The  name  of  National  Cigar-makers'  Union  was  changed  to  Cigar-makers' 
International  Union  of  America. 

The  convention  also  took  ground  in  regard  to  the  general  agitation  for 
shorter  hours  of  labor,  by  adopting  the  following  resolution  :  — 

"WHEREAS,  The  workingmen  of  the  country  are,  at  the  present  time,  advo- 
cating an  eight-hour  law  system  ;  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  this  National  Union  approves  of  their  efforts  in  contending 
for  their  rights  as  workingmen,  hoping  they  will  be  successful  without  deduc- 
tion of  wages." 

The  Buffalo  Gazette,  published  by  Mr.  Kernaham,  president  of  the  Trades- 
Association  and  Eight-hour  League,  was  adopted  as  the  official  organ  of  the 
Cigar-makers'  International  Union  of  America. 

The  following  labor  papers  were  recommended  to  the  craft :  Workingmatfs 
Advocate,  of  Chicago;  Boston  Voice,  Pinchers  Welcome,  of  Philadelphia; 
Trov  Herald,  Baltimore  Laborer,  Westliche  Post  (Post  of  the  West),  of  St. 
Louis,  and  Detroit  Union. 

The  words  "male"  and  "white,"  to  be  eligible  for  membership,  were 
stricken  out  from  the  constitution,  and  the  words  "practical  cigar-maker" 
inserted  in  their  place. 

The  German  cigar-makers  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  organized  in  inde- 
pendent societies,  were  permitted  to  organize  separate  unions  under  the  ban- 
ner of  the  International  Union,  by  applying  for  charters,  etc. 

The  Committee  on  Officers'  Reports  stated  that  the  expenditures  for  strikes 
during  the  fiscal  year  amounted  to  $1,506.15. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  demanding  again  from  Congress  the  repeal  of 


APPENDIX.  6OI 

the  obnoxious  law  now  enforced,  compelling  cigar-makers  to  take  out  a  per- 
mit to  work  at  their  legitimate  business,  knowing  the  same  to  be  contrary  to 
a  republican  form  of  government. 

The  subsequent  three  conventions  were  held  at  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and 
Syracuse.  At  the  latter  place,  a  special  convention  was  held.  In  the  call 
for  the  same,  signed  by  Fred  Blend,  president,  and  Elias  Smith,  secretary, 
the  object  is  stated  as  follows  :  — 

"To  take  into  consideration  the  past  strikes,  and  to  bring  about  a  final  set- 
tlement of  the  same ;  to  complete  arrangements  for  future  strikes ;  to  take 
more  active  measures  toward  assisting  the  interest  of  co-operation ;  to 
take  into  consideration  the  present  revenue  laws ;  and  to  protest  against  the 
importation  of  coolies. 

Two  large,  protracted  strikes  and  lockouts,  which  took  place  between 
1869-1870  in  New  York  city  and  Cincinnati,  necessitating  heavy  assess- 
ments, endangered  the  International  Union,  which  had  then  reached  its 
highest  numerical  growth  preceding  the  industrial  panic  of  1873. 

In  1870,  the  organization  had  seven  strikes,  of  which  only  two  were  success- 
ful, the  expenditures  amounted  to  $43,017.00. 

The  two  large  lockouts  brought  the  International  Union  into  a  financial 
embarrassment,  being  unable  to  fulfil  its  obligations  in  the  payment  of  the 
regular  strike-benefit.  Worthless  checks  were  issued  to  members  in  lieu  of 
cash. 

This  was  one  of  the  causes  that  led  to  the  dissolution  of  unions,  and  to  the 
suspension  of  a  large  number  of  members.  In  1869,  the  membership  of 
the  International  Union  was  5,800;  in  1873,  it  had  decreased  to  3,771.  Be- 
sides this,  the  absence  of  benevolent  features  was  largely  felt  in  a  lack  of 
cohesion  among  the  members. 

The  fight  of  the  unions  against  the  introduction  of  the  moulds,  ending 
disastrously,  also  assisted  in  the  disintegration  of  the  unions. 

From  1871  to  1875,  inclusive,  there  were  78  strikes;  66  of  which  were  un- 
successful, and  12  successful.  These  cost  an  expenditure  of  $24,242.08. 
Sixty-four  of  these  strikes  were  against  a  reduction  of  wages. 

At  the  convention  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  in  1873,  the  following  endowment 
plan  was  adopted  :  — 

SECTION  i.  In  case  of  the  death  of  a  member  of  a  local  union  in  good 
standing,  the  officers  of  the  union  to  which  the  deceased  has  belonged  shall 
notify  the  International  Secretary,  within  ten  days  thereafter,  of  such  death ; 
said  notification  to  bear  the  seal  of  the  union,  and  be  accompanied  by  a  certi- 
ficate of  the  attending  physician  or  health-officers. 

SECT.  2.  Immediately  upon  receiving  such  notification,  properly  attested, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  International  Secretary  to  order  each  union  to 
forward,  within  twenty  days,  to  the  union  where  such  death  has  occurred, 
the  sum  of  ten  cents  per  member  in  good  standing,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
•widow,  orphan  or  nearest  dependent  relative;  provided,  that  in  all  cases 
where  the  deceased  leaves  no  widow,  orphan  or  dependent  relative,  this  sec- 
tion shall  remain  inoperative. 

This  endowment  plan  was  supposed  to  be  a  substitute  for  the  loaning  sys- 
tem to  traveling  members,  which  was  abolished  by  the  convention. 

The  abolishing  of  the  loaning  system,  — a  system  of  support  to  the  traveling 


6O2  APPENDIX. 

fraternity, — was  a  mistake.  Its  provisions  should  have  been  modified  on 
a  sound  basis,  by  which  dishonesty  could  have  been  checked,  and  the  unem- 
ployed in  quest  of  employment  retained  in  the  union. 

The  convention  also  adopted  a  system  of  arbitration  as  a  means  of  prevent- 
ing needless  strikes. 

The  disastrous  effect  which  the  industrial  panic  of  1873  had  upon  the  or- 
ganization is  best  illustrated  in  the  biennial  report  of  President  William  J. 
Cannon,  at  the  Paterson  Convention,  held  in  September,  1875  :  — 

"The  panic,  with  all  its  attending  evils,  came  upon  us  like  a  whirlwind, 
carrying  destruction  and  desolation  in  its  path, — making  fearful  havoc  and 
ghastly  inroads  into  the  prosperous  and  happy  homes  of  the  working  people, 
effectually  closing  every  avenue  of  prosperity  and  every  channel  of  industry. 
It  required  no  foresight  to  see  that  the  effect  on  our  trade  would  be  disas- 
trous, and  that  unless  wise  and  judicious  councils  prevailed  among  the  mem- 
bers of  our  local  organizations,  they  would  embark  upon  a  series  of  ruinous 
strikes,  which  would  not  only  end  in  their  own  destruction,  but  also  in  the 
dissolution  of  the  International  Union. 

"I  issued  a  circular  urging  the  unions  to  use  discretion  in  acting  upon 
proposed  reductions,  and  to  weigh  well  chances  of  success  against  the  almost 
certainty  of  defeat  before  launching  into  a  strike.  The  response  came  in  the 
shape  of  applications  for  strike-benefits  from  Paterson,  Richmond,  Cincin- 
nati, St.  Lo'uis  and  Westfield.  These  were  followed  by  other  applications  in 
rapid  succession,  nearly  every  mail  bringing  to  my  notice  either  an  antici- 
pated reduction  or  an  inaugurated  strike. 

"It  became  evident  to  me  that  the  ability  of  the  International  Union  to 
stand  adversity  as  it  had  prosperity  was  about  to  be  put  to  a  severe  test. 
Feeling  the  impossibility  of  making  a  successful  resistance,  I  advised  to 
avoid  strikes.  In  a  few  cases,  this  advice  was  adopted ;  but  the  great  major- 
ity claimed  as  good  a  right  to  strike  and  receive  support  as  any  other  union, 
and  when  they  did  not  receive  the  support  promptly,  would  return  to  their 
work,  and  the  union  disband.  In  this  manner,  our  membership  has  been 
largely  reduced,  as  well  as  the  number  of  our  unions,  while  of  those  which 
remain  many  are  weak,  only  awaiting  their  death-blow  in  the  form  of  a  re- 
duction or  a  special  assessment  of  a  few  cents  weekly." 

The  endowment  plan,  adopted  at  a  previous  convention,  proved  to  be 
a  failure,  because  the  members  refused  to  pay  the  assessments,  and  it  was 
repealed  by  a  vote  of  the  unions. 

The  International  Secretary,  E.  J.  Cox,  reported  that,  on  September  30, 
1873,  there  were  in  good  standing  84  unions,  with  a  membership  of  3,771. 
On  the  3oth  of  September,  1884,  there  were  54  unions,  with  a  reported  mem- 
bership of  2,167,  —  showing  a  decrease  in  unions  of  36,  and  in  membership  of 
1,604. 

Only  eleven  delegates  met  at  the  Paterson  Convention.  Two  important 
resolutions  were  adopted,  — one  authorizing  the  president  to  publish  monthly 
the  Cigar-makers'  Official  Journal,  the  other  allowing  bunch-breakers  and 
rollers  to  become  members.  The  offices  of  secretary,  treasurer  and  president 
were  combined  in  one  persoi).  Mr.  George  Hurst,  of  West  Suffield,  Conn., 
was  elected  to  the  position. 

The  recognition  of  bunch-breaking  and  rolling,  in  localities  where  the  sys- 


APPENDIX.  603 

tern  was  fully  established,  caused  a  great  deal  of  dissension.  Several  unions, 
where  that  system  was  unknown,  seceded,  and  divided  the  funds ;  others 
maintained  independent  local  unions. 

Between  1875  ar>d  I8?7.  the  International  Union  was  in  the  most  critical  con- 
dition. Members  had  deserted  the  ranks,  and  unions  dissolved.  Confidence, 
so  essential  to  the  success  of  a  trades  organization,  was  completely  destroyed. 
To  see  a  traveling  member  in  possession  of  a  card  was  a  rarity. 

In  1876,  there  were  nine  strikes  against  reduction  of  wages,  which  termi- 
nated unsuccessfully.  Expenditures,  $582.20. 

In  September,  1877,  the  convention  of  the  International  Union  met  at  Ro- 
chester. It  was  composed  of  seven  delegates,  representing  17  local  unions  and 
a  membership  of  1,016.  This  was  the  lowest  point  the  International  Union 
had  reached  since  its  organization.  The  New  York  delegate  was  instructed 
to  introduce  out-of-work,  sick  and  traveling-benefits ;  but  was  Entirely  unsuc- 
cessful in  convincing  the  majority  of  the  utility  of  these  benevolent  fea- 
tures. Mr.  A.  Strasser,  of  New  York  city,  was  elected  president.  After 
balloting  twenty  times,  he  received  four  votes  out  of.  seven. 

Fortunately  for  the  organization,  there  was  a  slight  revival  of  trade  in 
some  of  the  large  centres  of  the  cigar  industry.  The  cigar-makers,  having 
been  cut  in  their  wages  to  the  minimum  point  during  the  period  of  depres- 
sion grasped  at  the  slightest  opportunity  for  an  advance  of  wages. 

The  tenement-house  system,  the  curse  of  the  trade,  had  assumed  gigantic 
proportions ;  nearly  four-fifths  of  the  cigars  made  in  New  York  city  were 
made  in  tenement-houses. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1877,  a  strike  occurred  in  the  shop  of  Frederick 
DeBarry,  New  York  city,  for  an  increase  of  wages.  In  the  months  of  Septem- 
ber and  October,  the  strike  extended  to  all  leading  factories  and  tenement- 
houses,  resisted  by  a  powerful  combination  of  32  manufacturers.  Over  7,000 
men  and  women  were  affected.  It  followed  close  upon  the  gigantic  railroad 
strike.  The  strike,  although  not  entirely  successful,  was  a  great  lesson  to 
the  cigar-makers.  It  clearly  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  organization  and 
the  building-up  of  a  reserve  fund.  During  the  strike,  which  lasted  107  days, 
over  1,000  families,  making  cigars  in  their  tenements,  were  dispossessed  from 
their  homes  by  the  sheriff.  The  total  cost  of  the  strike  was  $48,476.39. 

The  reason  that  the  expenses  of  a  strike  involving  so  many  thousand  persons 
were  so  low,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Relief  Committee  supplied  the  needy 
ones  with  bread,  beef  and  other  necessaries  of  life,  which  they  purchased  at 
wholesale  prices.  Over  i  ,000  loaves  of  bread,  each  weighing  three  pounds,  and 
2,500  pounds  of  meat  were  distributed  every  day.  The  heroic  struggle  of  the 
raw  recruits  engaged  in  the  fight  created  enthusiasm  among  the  cigar-makers 
all  over  the  country.  Unions  sprang  up  in  every  direction,  and  before  the 
strike  had  ended,  local  unions  had  doubled  in  number.  In  New  York  city 
alone,  over  7,000  enrolled  in  the  various  unions,  of  whom,  after  the  struggle 
was  over,  only  131  remained  true  to  their  colors. 

The  next  convention  of  the  International  was  held  at  Buffalo,  in  1879.  The 
credentials  of  1 1  delegates  were  approved.  The  president  reported  a  net  in- 
crease of  18  unions  since  the  last  convention,  while  the  membership  increased 
from  1,016  to  1,250. 

The  president  recommended,  in  his  biennial  report,  the  federation  of  trades- 


604  APPENDIX. 

unions  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  all  trade  and  labor-unions  of  America  into 
one  grand  body;  the  enforcement  of  the  eight-hour  law  for  all  government 
employees;  the  employment  of  a  general  organizer;  the  continuation  of  the 
agitation  against  tenement-house  cigar-factories ;  the  prohibition  of  child- 
labor  and  enforcement  of  the  school-laws;  the  regulation  of  female  labor; 
the  prohibition  of  contract  convict-labor;  the  prohibition  of  the  importation 
of  coolies,  and  the  abolition  of  the  truck  system;  the  introduction  of  benevo- 
lent features ;  the  equalization  of  funds,  and  the  adoption  of  equal  dues  and 
initiation-fees. 

The  convention  adopted  the  loaning  system  for  the  support  of  the  traveling 
fraternity,  equal  dues  and  initiation-fees  for  all  members,  and  the  equalization 
of  funds.  The  strike-laws  were  modified  in  conformity  with  the  experience 
of  the  past,  and  a  sinking-fund  of  $2.00  per  member  was  embodied  in  the 
constitution.  .  The  president's  salary  was  $250.00  per  annum.  Mr.  A. 
Strasser,  of  New  York,  was  re-elected.  The  adoption  of  these  new  features 
had  a  remarkable  influence  upon  the  organization ;  it  helped  to  strengthen 
the  revival  of  unionism  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  next  convention  was  held  in  1880,  at  Chicago,  111.,  represented  by  32 
delegates.  The  president  reported  an  increase  of  38  unions  in  one  year,  and 
an  increase  in  membership  of  3,159.  In  his  reference  to  the  necessity  of  con- 
necting additional  benevolent  features  with  the  organization,  the  president 
said :  "  I  do  not  know  of  any  cigar-maker  opposed  to  additional  benefits. 
The  strongest  and  most  powerful  trades-unions  of  the  civilized  world  are  those 
•which  secure  to  the  members  the  greatest  amount  of  protection,  not  only 
during  strikes,  but  when  sick,  out  of  work,  in  search  of  employment,  and 
almost  in  every  other  station  of  life  where  our  own  resources  are  insufficient, 
and  we  have  to  depend  upon  others." 

Regarding  strikes,  the  president  recommended  not  to  recognize  any  appli- 
cations for  an  increase  of  wages  until  the  coming  spring,  and  to  make  "  haste 
slowly." 

In  1880,  there  were  sixteen  strikes,  —  five  for  an  increase  of  wages,  one  against 
the  truck  system,  six  against  reduction,  and  the  rest  for  maintenance  of  the 
union.  Of  these  sixteen  strikes,  nine  were  successful,  five  lost,  and  two  com- 
promised; the  expenditures  were  $6,315.93.  The  convention  adopted,  after  a 
prolonged  and  heated  debate,  the  sick  and  death-benefit  features,  and  empow- 
ered the  president  to  appoint  an  organizer,  at  an  expense  not  to  exceed  $300.00 
per  annum.  The  union  label,  known  as  the  blue  label^  was  also  adopted. 
Mr.  A.  Strasser,  of  New  York,  was  unanimously  re-elected  as  president. 

The  next  convention,  known  as  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Session,  was  held 
in  September,  iSSi,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  It  consisted  of  53  delegates.  The 
president  reported,  in  his  annual  address,  an  increase  of  52  unions,  and  8,300 
members. 

In  1881,  there  were  69  strikes,  of  which  49  were  for  an  increase  of  wages,  10 
against  reductions,  10  against  the  truck  system,  and  other  causes.  Of  these 
strikes,  57  were  successful,  and  12  lost.  The  expenditures  amounted  to 
$21,058.08.  In  regard  to  the  evils  of  making  cigars  in  tenement-houses,  the 
president  made  the  following  statement:  — 

"  Eight  years  have  elapsed  since  the  system  was  first  exposed  in  public 
meetings,  and  the  board  of  health  requested  to  recognize  them  as  a  public 


APPENDIX.  605 

nuisance,  dangerous  to  the  health  and  morals  of  the  occupants.  The  white- 
washing report  of  the  board  was  published  in  the  Workingman's  Advocate, 
then  the  official  journal  of  the  Cigar-makers'  International  Union.  The  agi- 
tation was  continued,  and  carried  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  In  the 
month  of  February,  1879,  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance  adopted  a  bill  to 
abolish  the  evil.  It  was  carried  through  the  committee  of  the  whole,  by  an 
unanimous  vote,  in  a  division  of  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  27  to  4,  but  ulti- 
mately defeated  by  a  vote  of  35  to  25.  Defeated  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  the  bill  was  introduced  as  a  sanitary  measure  in  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  during  the  winter  of  1880.  It  was  carried  through  the 
committee,  but  defeated  in  the  committee  of  the  whole,  by  a  vote  of  49  to  40. 
The  bill  was  again  introduced  in  the  Legislature,  and  defeated  by  a  vote  of 
45  t°  45.  This  is  a  brief  history  of  the  agitation  to  the  fall  of  1881." 

The  convention  again  adopted  a  resolution  prohibiting  local  unions  from 
striking  for  an  increase  of  wages  from  November  i,  1881,  till  April  i,  1882. 
The  sinking-fund  was  raised  from  $2.00  to  $3.50. 

The  following  section  regulating  the  hours  of  labor  was  embodied  in  the 
constitution  :  "  Every  local  union  shall  have  the  power  to  regulate  the  hours 
of  labor,  in  its  respective  locality;  but  in  no  case  shall  they  exceed  ten  per 
day." 

Shortly  after  that  convention  commenced  an  internal  conflict  in  New  York 
city,  known  as  the  secession  of  the  so-called  progressive  cigar-makers,  led  by 
men  that  were  only  a  short  time  in  the  country,  and  not  acquainted  with  the 
peculiar  course  of  the  American  labor  movement. 

The  conflict  in  the  ranks  of  the  cigar-makers  almost  destroyed  the  useful- 
ness of  the  organization  in  New  York  city.  It  is  a  dark  episode  in  the  history 
of  the  craft. 

The  next  convention  was  held  at  Toronto,  Ont,  in  September,  1883.  The 
credentials  of  88  delegates  were  approved. 

The  biennial  report  of  the  president  showed  an  increase  of  59  unions,  and  an 
increase  of  1,291  in  membership.  A  comparison  with  past  years  showed 
the  following  growth  :  — 

September,  1877 17  local  unions. 

1879 35      " 

"  1880 ,.  .  74     " 

"  1881 126     " 

1883  .....'..  185     " 

The  managing  expenses  for  two  years,  including  eight  million  labels, 
twenty-four  issues  of  the  journal,  and  five  supplements,  amounted  to 
$16,566.70.  From  the  president's  report,  the  following  is  quoted  on 
strikes :  — 

"  We  do  not  court  them,  nor  do  we  favor  them.  They  should  not  be  re- 
sorted to  until  all  peaceable  means  have  been  tried  and  exhausted.  To  go 
out  on  strike  without  cool  and  calm  deliberation,  where  all  chances  are  care- 
fully taken  into  consideration,  is  neither  heroic  nor  worthy  of  imitation.  The 
object  of  every  well-regulated  union  is  to  check  and  to  discourage  frequent 
difficulties ;  to  secure  an  advance  of  wages  whenever  the  condition  of  trade  is 
favorable,  without  the  expedient  of  a  strike. 


606  APPENDIX. 

"A  revision  of  our  strike-laws  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  The  Interna- 
tional Union  must  be  enabled  to  check  strikes  in  time  of  necessity,  restrict 
and  regulate  the  power  of  local  unions  in  the  inauguration  of  the  same.  The 
welfare  of  the  entire  organization  is  sometimes  endangered  by  a  single  strike. 
During  the  last  two  years,  the  number  of  difficulties  has  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  organization.  The  expenditures  were  enormous,  involving  a 
large  portion  of  our  income.  We  have  expended  $77,203.47.  I  can  safely  say 
that,  outside  of  regular  assessments,  over  $40,000  have  been  contributed  vol- 
untarily. Within  the  last  two  years,  the  International  Union  approved  194 
strikes.  They  were  inaugurated  for  the  following  causes  :  Ninety-seven  for  an 
increase  of  wages,  fifty-two  against  reductions,  and  forty-five  for  various  other 
causes.  Of  these,  135  were  successful,  47  lost,  and  12  undecided.  I  have 
endeavored  to  make  a  careful  calculation,  from  the  monthly  reports  re- 
turned, of  the  amount  gained  in  wages  through  these  strikes,  within  a  period 
of  four  years,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  amounts  at  present  to 
$150,000  per  month,  or  $1,800,000  per  annum.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  what 
has  been  gained  by  preventing  reductions  of  wages ;  but  I  do  not  think  that 
it  will  fall  much  below  $500,000  per  year." 

In  regard  to  the  hours  of  labor,  the  president  made  the  following  state- 
ment :  — 

"A  large  number  of  trades  organizations  have  agreed  'that  the  reduction 
of  the  hours  of  labor  is  a  cardinal  principle  of  the  labor  movement.  In  the 
past,  the  building  trades  have  led  in  this  direction.  The  time  has  come  when 
all  trades  must  prepare  for  some  reduction  of  the  working-time.  I  recom- 
mend that  steps  be  taken  toward  the  adoption  of  the  nine-hour  system.  From 
the  reports  returned  by  local  unions,  I  notice  that,  in  a  good  many  places,  the 
hours  of  labor  do  not  exceed  fifty-four  per  week.  It  would,  therefore,  be  an 
easy  step  to  make  them  uniform.  The  following  .table  is  copied  from  the 
monthly  reports  of  local  unions,  and  shows  the  average  weekly  working  hours 
in  the  several  localities  :  — 

13  local  unions  make  report  of  working  60  hours  per  week. 

i       "  "  "        "         "  59       " 

22         "  "  "  "          "  "  58         " 

32  "  "  "  "  "  "  57  "    "    " 

18  "  "  "  "  "  "  56  " 

26  "  "  "  "  "  "  55  " 

12  "  "  "  "  54  "    "    " 

i  "  "  "  "  "  "  53  " 

10  "  "  "  "  "  "  52  " 

3   "    "    "    "   "   "    5i   " 
8   "    "    "    "   "    "    50   " 


"  The  fact  that  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  has  been  followed  by  an 
increase  of  wages,  and  through  natural  causes  higher  wages  must  follow  a 
further  reduction,  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  objections." 

The  president  also  recommended  that  legislative  interference  of  our  law- 
making  bodies  be  invoked  for  the  purpose  of  prohibiting  the  employment  of 


APPENDIX.  607 

child-labor  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  to  prevent  women  from  being 
employed  more  than  eight  hours. 

On  the  important  question  of  supporting  the  unemployed,  the  president 
made  the  following  remarks  in  his  biennial  report :  — 

"  The  protective  and  benevolent  features  of  the  union  should  be  enlaiged 
bv  the  adoption  of  an  act  of  work-benefit.  A  member  of  the  union,  who  is 
out  of  work  for  a  long  period,  is  in  danger  of  soon  being  out  of  the  union. 
If  the  number  of  the  unemployed  is  large,  demoralization  steps  in,  and  it 
becomes  difficult  to  maintain  the  rate  of  wages.  The  fear  that  this  benefit 
would  encourage  idleness  among  those  who  have  but  little  ambition,  has  but 
little  foundation,  as  the  sum  given  would  be  so  small  and  so  guarded  with 
conditions  that  the  shiftless  would  soon  be  found  out." 

The  president's  decision  in  the  New  York  trouble  was  indorsed,  and  the 
secession  of  the  Progressives  condemned  by  the  convention.  Mr.  A.  Strasser, 
of  New  York  city,  was  re-elected,  receiving  69  votes  out  of  87.  The  conven- 
tion resolved  to  appoint  a  permanent  organizer.  In  regard  to  the  forms  of 
labor,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  :  — 

"  WHEREAS  we  know  that  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  furnishes  em- 
plovment  to  a  larger  number  of  men,  we  therefore  recommend  the  considera- 
tion of  this  question  to  all  members  of  the  Cigar-makers'  International 
Union,  and  urge  them  to  use  all  their  energy  in  effecting  the  reduction  of  the 
hours  of  labor  to  eight  per  day." 

The  convention  increased  the  sick-benefit  from  $4.00  to  $5.00  per  week,  and 
the  death-benefit  from  $30.00  to  $40.00  per  member. 


CALIFORNIA   AND   COLORADO. 

The  history  of  the  movement  in  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western  States  is 
given  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  of  the  book.  At  the  present  writing, 
the  Knights  of  Labor  have  the  greatest  membership  of  any  organization,  and 
perhaps  greater  than  all  other  organizations. 

In  the  South,  trades-unions  have  existed  among  the  free  white  mechanics, 
tracing  back  to  about  1850  or  1845, — the  earliest  days  of  the  movement. 
The  Knights  of  Labor  are  entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  accomplished  more 
in  the  organization  of  the  colored  people  than  all  other  labor  organizations. 
The  history  of  the  labor  movement  in  the  South  would  require  a  most 
exhaustive  investigation,  and  might  well  fill  a  book. 

The  State  of  California,  having  specially  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  Chi- 
nese labor,  has  demanded  the  sympathies  as  well  as  the  attention  of  the 
labor  organizations  East.  In  another  place,  we  devote  considerable  space  to 
the  Chinese  question,  and  here  give  what  little  can  be  gathered  of  the  organ- 
ized effort  in  that  State,  furnished  by  E.  Burdette  Haskell,  and  supplement  it 
by  statements  on  the  development  of  the  question  in  Colorado,  by  J.  R.  Bu- 
chanan, member  of  the  auxiliary  Executive  Board  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 


608  APPENDIX. 


THE   LABOR   MOVEMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

In  California,  of  all  places  in  the  world,  labor  has  probably  had  the  hardest 
struggle  to  organize;  and  it  will  have  in  the  future  an  equally  hard  task  to 
accomplish  its  emancipation.  The  State  was  settled  by  a  cosmopolitan  popu- 
lation, and  race  jealousies  and  divisions  consequently  here  flourish  in  excess. 
The  main  idea  of  the  immigrants  was  to  get  money  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
by  any  means.  Thus  the  dollar  is  more  of  a  god  in  California  than  in  any 
other  State.  The  early  settlers  were  mainly  of  the  reckless,  criminal,  improvi- 
dent class  of  adventurers  and  a  train  of  scheming  camp-followers.  This  first 
class  has  nearly  all  died  off.  Their  children,  being  deprived  of  proper  school- 
ing when  young,  are  now  deprived  of  proper  labor  by  the  presence  of  Chinese. 
They  are,  consequently,  idle  and  discontented.  The  second  class  of  immi- 
grants grabbed  all  of  the  lands  and  city  property,  and  now  hold  it  and  enjoy 
its  fruits;  they  will  not  go  into  new  enterprises,  and  they  will  not  let  go  of 
the  land,  so  that  it  may  be  made  available  for  use  by  others.  The  result  is 
stagnation  in  business.  The  want  of  moral  training  and  education  of  any 
kind  makes  the  population  peculiarly  corrupt  and  unscrupulous ;  and  the 
labor  organizations  swarm  with  spies  and  jobbers. 

The  early  history  of  labor  movements  on  this  coast  is  one  of  vicissitudes. 
The  first  recorded  attempt  at  union  in  this  city  was  made  by  the  ship-carpen- 
ters, in  1856.  This  union  was  eminently  successful,  —  in  fact,  too  successful. 
Its  dissolution  was  not  less  singular  than  its  success ;  for  its  treasury  became 
so  plethoric  that  discussion  among  its  members  as  to  how  the  funds  should 
be  disposed  of  led  to  a  disruption.  In  1857,  the  journeymen  tailors  organized 
and  elected  officers.  The  union  disbanded  after  three  meetings.  In  1863,  the 
tailors  again  organized,  their  grievance  being  that  they  were  not  paid  for  extra 
work.  The  formation  of  the  union  was  almost  immediately  followed  by  a 
strike  against  the  amount  of  fancy-work  put  upon  the  coats  of  the  period. 
The  strike  lasted  several  weeks,  and  was  successful.  The  union  died  soon 
afterward.  It  was  revived  in  1873.  Without  a  strike,  the  hours  of  labor  were 
reduced  from  eleven  to  ten,  and  the  organization  was  in  a  fair  way  to  pros- 
perity and  longevity ;  but  the  action  of  its  members  precipitated  several  strikes, 
and  the  union  at  last  dwindled  away  and  died. 

The  first  amalgamation  of  trades-unions  took  place  about  1863,  John  M. 
Days  leading  the  movement.  A  year  later  fourteen  trades  were  represented 
in  it,  and  the  year  following  that  it  had  six.  It  died  during  the  struggle  for 
an  eight-hour  law.  In  1857,  an  eight-hour  law  went  into  effect  in  Australia, 
and  was  reported  to  be  a  success.  The  news,  upon  reaching  this  coast,  caused 
a  very  general  desire  among  workingmen  for  a  decrease  in  the  hours  of  labor. 
At  this  time,  labor-saving  machinery  was  making  itself  felt.  A  remedy  for 
the  resulting  evil  was  seen  in  a  reduction  of  hours,  and  it  became  a  political 
war-cry.  In  1865,  it  influenced  the  cltty  election  for  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  at  the  succeeding  election  eight  hours  for  a  day's  labor  became  a 
law.  In  September,  1865,  the  ship-calkers  adopted  eight  hours,  and  the  ship- 
carpenters  followed.  The  Trades-Council  sent  its  president  to  Sacramento,  in 
the  interest  of  the  movement,  and  he  secured  the  appointment  of  a  joint 
committee  favorable  to  the  eight-hour  bill.  It  passed  the  Lower  House  by 


APPENDIX.  609 

64  ayes  to  6  noes,  and  in  the  Senate  was  referred  to  a  committee.  It  was 
attacked  by  the  press.  In  January,  1867,  the  Senate  defeated  the  bill  by  15 
ayes  to  17  noes. 

In  1866,  a  nine-hour  movement  was  started ;  but  the  mechanics  did  not  re- 
gard it  favorably,  and  after  a  little  agitation  it  fell  through.  Early  in  1867, 
the  eight-hour  fight  was  renewed  in  earnest.  An  eight-hour  league  was 
organized,  the  unions  formed  the  Mechanics'  State  Council.  In  it  were  rep- 
resented the  following  unions  :  House-carpenters',  lathers',  brick-layers',  stone- 
cutters', ship-joiners',  gas-fitters',  and  laborers.  The  number  of  members  is  not 
known  now.  This  organization  advocated  eight  hours.  Both  parties  adopted 
an  eight-hour  plank.  On  June  3d.  the  Mechanics'  State  Council  paraded.  On 
February  21,  1868,  an  eight-hour  law  was  passed. 

The  passage  of  this  bill  was  enthusiastically  celebrated  in  San  Francisco. 
Laws  were  passed  to  protect  the  wages  of  labor.  The  labor-men  then  relaxed 
their  efforts,  and  these  laws  were  soon  evaded  by  having  men  work  by  the 
hour  instead  of  by  the  day.  Thus  the  eight-hour  law  never  conferred  a  parti- 
cle of  benefit  on  the  mechanic.  The  labor  organizations  soon  dwindled  away, 
and  in  three  years  only  the  brick-layers  and  plasterers  remained  organized. 
In  1874,  the  tailors  made  an  attempt  to  federate  the  trades  of  San  Francisco. 
Six  unions  met,  but  the  federation  soon  fell  to  pieces.  The  brick-layers  kept 
up  their  union,  and  observed  the  eight-hour  law,  until  1875,  when  a  capitalist 
combination  broke  them  up.  The  plasterers  held  out  on  eight  hours  until 
1877,  when  their  union  succumbed  in  a  strike  for  higher  wages.  When  the 
labor  agitations  commenced,  another  attempt  was  made  to  amalgamate,  and 
about  fourteen  unions  were  got  together,  having  about  1,500  members.  This 
federation  died  after  the  fall  elections. 

In  1877,  the  anti-Chinese  agitation  reached  its  culmination  in  the  Kearney 
movement.  Prior  to  appearing  as  a  leader,  Kearney  had  been  on  the  side  of 
capital  and  low  wages.  He  attempted  to  gain  admission  to  the  Workingmen's 
party  of  the  United  States,  was  black-balled,  and  then  started  the  "  Working- 
men's  and  Labor  Union  Party,"  making  his  headquarters  on  the  Sand  Lots. 
Much  of  his  success  was  due  to  T.  H.  Bates  and  H.  L.  Knight,  two  of  his 
lieutenants. 

A  convention  was  held  in  Humboldt  Hall,  January  24,  1878,  which  adopted 
the  Workingmen's  Party  platform  and  constitution,  the  chief  planks  of  which 
were  anti-Chinese.  Kearney  was  president,  and  Knight  secretary  of  the  party, 
which  went  actively  to  work  through  the  city.  Their  outrages  on  the  public 
peace  called  into  being  a  "  Safety  Committee."  Kearney  was  arrested  several 
times  for  the  violence  of  his  language.  Finally,  his  displays  of  physical  cow- 
ardice utterly  broke  his  hold,  and  he  was  hooted  and  jeered  when  he  appeared 
on  the  Sand  Lots.  He  was  never  in  any  respect  a  representative  of  labor, 
nor  was  his  party. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  "  Workingmen's  Party,"  a  federation  of  trades- 
unions  was  formed  under  the  title  of  the  "Trades-Assembly."  The  most 
notable  of  its  performances  was  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  form  a  co-operative 
furniture  factory.  In  April,  1882,  the  Trades-Assembly  called  a  State  Conven- 
tion, in  which  were  represented  delegates  from  the  trades-unions  of  Nevada 
and  Oregon,  and  steps  were  taken  against  the  Chinese.  The  means  employed 
was  the  formation  of  a  "  League  of  Deliverance,"  which  made  considerable 


6lO  APPENDIX. 

noise  during  its  brief  career,  but  accomplished  nothing,  and  died  out  soon 
after  its  birth,  side  by  side  with  the  trades-assembly. 

After  the  demise  of  the  League  of  Deliverance,  trades-unionism  in  San 
Francisco  remained  dormant  until  the  early  part  of  1885.  Early  in  that  year, 
the  International  began  to  openly  show  itself  as  an  encourager  of  trades  or- 
ganization and  federation.  On  the  i6th  of  March,  a  general  convention  of 
trades  assembled  at  Irish-American  Hall,  and  after  three  days'  session  launched 
"The  Central  Labor  Union,"  which,  however,  succumbed  to  the  vigorous 
attack  of  the  politicians  in  the  various  unions.  The  Iron-moulders'  Union 
was,  however,  more  fortunate.  They  succeeded  in  perfecting  a  sub-federation 
of  the  iron  trades,  May  n,  1885,  which  still  exists.  The  iron  federation  was 
but  a  preliminary  step  to  a  general  federation  of  the  trades  and  labor  organi- 
zations of  the  Pacific  coast.  The  coast  seamen  were  the  first  after  the  iron- 
men  to  come  to  the  front  prominently.  On  the  night  of  March  6,  1885,  a 
party  of  coasting  seamen  gathered  around  a  lumber-pile  on  Folsom-street 
wharf,  and  by  the  light  of  a  friendly  street-lamp  formed  a  union.  In  the  one 
year  of  its  existence,  it  has  gained  ground  until  it  now  has  a  membership  of 
over  3,000,  with  branches  in  Port  Townsend,  Eureka  and  San  Pedro,  cover- 
ing the  line  of  the  entire  coast.  Its  union  has  done  much  good  in  furnishing 
better  board  and  rooms,  by  securing  higher  wages,  and  by  acting  as  an 
agency  where  vessel-owners  can  get  good  men. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1884,  several  cigar-makers,  who  were  members  of  the 
Cigar-makers'  Association  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  withdrew  from  that  organiza- 
tion, and  formed  themselves  into  a  branch  of  the  International  Cigar-makers' 
Union  of  America.  The  reason  for  this  action  was  that  the  constitution  and 
by-laws  of  the  association  did  not  permit  any  of  its  members  to  work  in  a 
factory  where  Chinese  were  employed.  The  union  has  been  very  successful, 
has  materially  displaced  Chinese  control  of  the  cigar-making  business,  and 
has  eight  hundred  members.  Several  unions  are  now  in  operation  through 
the  State. 

Last  December,  the  Knights  of  Labor  called  a  convention  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  expression  to  the  views  of  workingmen  on  the  question  of  convict- 
labor  and  the  Chinese;  calling  upon  those  renting  property  to  Chinese  to 
evict  their  tenants,  and  also  demanded  an  enforcement  of  the  laws  as  set 
down  in  the  State  Constitution.  Several  of  the  organizations  which  had  sent 
delegates  to  the  convention  were  displeased,  and  withdrew  them.  The  iron 
trades,  the  Cigar-makers'  Union,  and  other  prominent  organizations  re- 
mained, however,  and  after  passing  a  number  of  pertinent  resolutions  formed 
a  plan  for  the  federation  of  the  trades  and  labor  organizations  of  the  Pacific 
coast  In  the  convention,  the  following  were  represented :  Blacksmiths' 
Union,  Boiler-makers' League,  Sailing- Vessels'  Cooks' and  Waiters',  Carpen- 
ters' and  Joiners'  Union  No.  36,  of  Oakland;  Local  Assembly  No.  855,  of  Sac- 
ramento; Lathers' Union,  Local  Assembly  1760,  of  San  Francisco;  Express 
Union,  of  San  Francisco;  Tinners'  Union,  of  San  Francisco;  Local  Assem- 
bly 1390,  of  San  Francisco;  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  of  San 
Francisco;  Steamship  Protective  Association,  of  California;  United  Order 
of  Mechanics,  of  Vallejo;  Boatmen's  Protective  Union,  of  San  Francisco; 
Pavers'  Union,  of  San  Francisco  ;  Iron-moulders'  Union  No.  164,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco; Independent  Order  of  Associated  Plasterers',  Carpenters',  and  Joiners', 


APPENDIX.  6ll 

No.  22,  of  San  Francisco;  Furniture-makers' Union,  Draymen  and  Team- 
sters' Union,  Marine  Engineers',  Carpenters'  and  Joiners'  Union,  No.  58,  of 
Los  Angeles ;  Journeymen  Boot  and  Shoemakers,  of  San  Francisco ;  Local 
Assembly  1573,  of  San  Francisco;  Knights  of  Labor,  2999,  of  San  Francisco; 
Knights  of  Labor,  3337,  of  San  Francisco;  Mechanics' Union,  Storey  County, 
Nevada;  Typographical  Union,  of  San  Francisco,  No.  21;  Knights  of  La- 
bor, 1580,  of  San  Francisco;  Saddle-treemakers,  of  San  Francisco;  Wood- 
carvers,  of  San  Francisco ;  Knights  of  Labor,  No.  2383  ;  Musicians'  Protective 
Union;  Pacific  Coast  Association  of  Stationary  Engineers;  Penryn  Stone- 
cutters; S.  S.  Firemen's  Protective  Association;  Stone-cutters'  Union,  of  San 
Francisco;  Tailors'  Protective  and  Benevolent  Union,  of  San  Francisco; 
White  Cooks  and  Waiters,  of  San  Francisco;  Machinists'  Union,  of  Cali- 
fornia; Federated  Council  of  Iron  Trades,  Knights  of  Labor,  2861,  of  San 
Francisco ;  International  Cigar-makers  of  America,  No.  228,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco; Iron  Laborers'  Protective  Association,  of  San  Francisco;  Carpenters 
and  Joiners,  of  Alameda;  Marine  Carpenters,  of  San  Francisco;  Pacific  Coast 
Seamen's  Association;  Clerks'  Assembly,  No.  3651,  Knights  of  Labor; 
Bakers'  Workmen  Union;  Boot  and  Shoemakers*  "White-Labor"  Union; 
Pacific  Coast  Division  International  Workingmen's  Association;  Under-wear 
Factory  of  M.  J.  Flavin,  Stockton  Branch  of  Pacific  Coast  Division  Interna- 
tional Workingmen's  Association,  Socialistic  Labor  Party,  Coast  Seamen's 
Union,  Metal-roofers,  Eureka  Branch  of  the  Coast  Seamen's  Union;  of  the 
Pacific  Coast;  International  Workmen,  Plumbers'  Union,  Coopers'  Union, 
Pattern-makers'  White  Cigar-makers'  Association;  of  the  Pacific  Coast; 
Wharf-builders'  Protective  Association,  Los  Angeles  Trades-Council,  Local 
Assembly  855,  Knights  of  Labor,  of  Sacramento. 

The  Federation  of  Trades,  when  formed,  included  nearly  all  of  the  above. 
The  following  were  elected  officers:  Frank  Roney,  president;  Patrick 
McGreal,  vice-president;  T.  W.  Parkin,  recording  secretary;  G.  F.  Wenzel, 
financial  secretary;  E.  McKinley,  corresponding  secretary;  W.  C.  Owen, 
statistical  secretary;  P.  F.  Murphy,  treasurer;  Committee  on  Organization, 
B.  G.  Haskell,  P.  Ross  Martin,  W.  C.  Owen,  P.  McGreal,  L.  N.  Ahrens, 
H.  W.  Hutton;  Edward  Anderson,  sergeant-at-arms;  Finance  Committee, 
M.  Schneider,  George  Bayless,  J.  H.  Ranons;  Committee  on  Credentials, 
D.  J.  McCarthy,  D.  Chisholm,  J.  M.  Clark;  Committee  on  Reports,  George 
Bayless,  J.  McDermott,  E.  McKinley. 

After  the  adoption  of  a  constitution,  the  Federation  went  ahead  with  its 
business.  Since  its  organization,  it  has  been  very  active  in  organizing  local 
unions,  and  has  taken  an  active  and  highly  successful  part  in  several  move- 
ments. 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  COLORADO. 

Until  within  six  or  seven  years,  organized  labor  in  Colorado  and  adjacent 
Territories  has  not  amounted  to  much.  The  first  organization  in  Colorado 
was  Typographical  Union  No.  49,  of  Denver,  chartered  June  3,  1860.  Now 
all  the  trades  in  Denver  and  in  the  principal  towns  of  the  State  and  Terri- 


612 


APPENDIX. 


tories  are  organized.  Denver  has  a  trades-assembly,  in  which  the  unions  are 
represented  by  delegates.  In  Leadville,  Cheyenne,  Ogden,  Salt  Lake,  etc., 
the  workers  are  principally  organized  in  assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 
There  was  no  important  contest  of  labor  and  capital  in  that  region  until  the 
great  miners'  strike  in  Leadville,  iSSo.  This  was  caused  by  an  attempt  to 
reduce  the  wages  of  the  miners  from  $4.00  and  $6.00  per  day  to  a  uniform 
price  of  $3.00.  The  miners  were  organized  into  what  was  publicly  known  as 
the  Miners'  Union,  but  which  were  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  their  old,  secret 
style.  A  majority  of  the  4,000  or  5,000  employees  of  the  mines  were  in  this 
organization.  It  decided  to  strike,  after  attempting  to  settle  by  arbitration. 
Some  "scabs"  were  secured,  but  only  a  small  force  remained  in  the  mines, 
and  most  of  them  were  entirely  shut  down.  The  union,  after  getting  most 
of  those  at  work  to  leave,  found  the  mines  guarded  by  armed  men,  who,  in 
some  instances,  fired  on  the  union  men.  Excitement  ran  high.  Both  sides 
made  public  procession.  A  "  Safety  Committee  of  One  Hundred, "as  it  called 
itself,  issued  peremptory  orders  that  certain  leaders  of  the  strike  leave  town. 
Only  three  obeyed.  Influenced  by  misrepresentations,  Governor  Pitkin  pro- 
claimed martial  law  in  Leadville,  although  he  afterward  said  that  the  only 
disorderly  element  he  could  find  there  was  that  opposing  the  Miners'  Union. 
The  miners  were  beaten  in  the  end;  and  it  subsequently  transpired  that  the 
whole  affair  was  a  stock-jobbing  scheme,  worked  up  by  the  owners  of  the 
property. 

The  next  important  event  in  labor  circles  in  this  region  was  the  strike 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  employees,  May  i,  1884,  against  a  reduction 
of  wages.  The  men  organized,  the  shops  were  closed,  and  freight  trains 
stopped.  Assemblies  of  Knights  of  Labor  were  formed.  Denver  was  made 
headquarters,  and  committees  and  organizers  were  sent  all  over  the  road.  In 
three  days,  the  company  withdrew  its  order,  and  business  was  resumed.  The 
men  continued  to  organize.  In  August,  a  reduction  was  attempted  by  cut- 
ting a  few  at  a  time.  Again  work  was  suspended.  A  committee  was  sent  to 
the  company  headquarters,  and  on  the  second  day  the  reduction  was  with- 
drawn. A  plan  of  concilation  between  the  men  and  the  company  was  then 
agreed  upon,  which  is  still  in  operation,  and  no  serious  trouble  has  since 
resulted. 

In  October,  1884,  the  coal-miners  of  Colorado,  Wyoming  and  Utah  organ- 
ized at  the  various  camps  into  assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  formed  a 
central  organization,  and  with  some  of  the  operators  created  what  they  called 
a  "  Conciliation  Board,"  for  the  purpose  of  settling  differences  as  to  wages, 
weights  and  screens,  which  had  arisen  at  nearly  all  the  mines.  Failing  to 
settle,  a  strike  was  ordered  at  most  of  the  mines,  and  a  bitter  struggle  began, 
—  the  hardest  fight  being  with  the  Colorado  Coal  &  Iron  Co.  "  Scab«"  were 
brought  from  the  East  and  South,  and  worked  under  guards,  families  were 
turned  out  of  company-houses,  and  a  great  deal  of  bad  blood  was  shown. 
The  trouble  lasted  through  two  months  ;  but  it  finally  died  out.  The  strikers 
won  in  some  places  and  lost  in  others,  —  the  principal  defeat  being  by  the  Colo- 
rado Coal  &  Iron  Co.  But  the  central  organization  of  miners  and  the  Con- 
ciliation Board  were  demolished  ;  and  now  the  miners  look  out  for  their  interests 
locally,  through  their  assemblies.  Just  at  the  close,  on  May  5,  1885,  was  in- 
augurated the  celebrated  Rio  Grande  strike.  The  Rio  Grande  Railroad  Com- 


APPENDIX.  613 

pany,  then  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  began  to  discharge  and  otherwise 
discriminate  against  members  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  Six  men  were  un- 
justly discharged  from  the  Denver  shops,  and  the  superintendent  refused  to 
reinstate  or  bring  definite  charges  "against  them.  It  was  decided  to  strike 
against  this  tyrannical  action,  although  against  the  wish  of  a  great  many, 
who  feared  a  contest  with  a  road  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States  courts. 
The  contest  was  one  of  the  bitterest  ever  known  in  labor  annals.  Deputy 
United  States  marshals  abounded,  and  the  men  were  not  allowed  to  go  near  the 
trainmen  to  persuade  them  not  to  work.  Dynamite  was  placed  on  the  track, 
and  engines  were  blown  up,  but  no  lives  were  lost.  Men  were  sent  to  jail  for 
months  for  asking  trainmen  to  leave  the  trains.  The  court  decided  that  em- 
ployees refusing  to  obey  the  order  to  keep  off  the  company's  ground,  the  com- 
pany being  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  were  guilty  of  contempt  of  court,  and 
men  were  imprisoned  on  this  charge.  Later  developments  go  to  show  that 
the  placing  of  dynamite  on  the  tracks,  and  similar  outrages,  were  done  by 
deputies,  who  were  drawing  $5  per  day,  and  who  wanted  the  excitement  con- 
tinued. The  strike  was  finally  lost  for  lack  of  funds. 


THE  NATIONAL  GRANGE  OF  THE  PATRONS 
OF  HUSBANDRY. 

It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that  the  number  of  founders  of  the  Grange 
was  the  same  as  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  From  a  union  of  ideas  and  efforts, 
by  seven  earnest  men  in  each  case,  has  sprung  a  great  organization  that 
covers  the  whole  country.  So  far  as  known,  also,  six  of  the  original  founders 
are  now  living, — another  coincidence  with  the  founders  of  •  the  Knights  of 
Labor. 

In  January,  1866,  Mr.  O.  H.  Kelley,  a  clerk  under  the  National  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture,  was  sent  through  the  South,  returning  to  Washington, 
April  21.  He  was  impressed  with  the  disorganization  of  the  farmers  of  that 
section,  and,  after  much  thought,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  should  be 
organized  into  a  secret  league,  devoted  to  their  interests.  He  consulted  Mr. 
J.  R.  Thompson,  an  officer  in  the  Treasury  Department,  and  Mr.  William  M. 
Ireland,  chief  clerk  in  the  finance  division  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  to 
which  Mr.  Kelley  had  been  transferred.  Both  of  them  were  Masons,  and  they 
cordially  indorsed  the  ideas  of  Mr.  Kelley.  Finding  the  need  of  the  opinions 
of  a  practical  agriculturist,  they  invited  Mr.  William  Saunders,  superintendent 
of  the  gardens  and  grounds  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  to  join  them. 
He  consented.  Wanting  further  advice,  they  invited  Rev.  John  Trimble,  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  to  criticise  their  labors.  After  a  season,  Rev.  A. 
B.  Grosh,  then  a  clerk  in  the  Agricultural  Department,  and  Mr.  F.  M.  Mc- 
Dowell, of  Wayne,  N.  Y.,  were  induced  to  labor  with  the  other  five;  and 
these  seven  constituted  the  immortal  founders  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry. 
For  nearly  two  years,  they  labored  in  preparing  a  scheme  of  organization, 
based  on  a  ritual  of  four  degrees  each,  for  men  and  women.  Having  formed 
a  constitution  adapted  to  this  ritual  to  govern  them,  they  met,  December  4, 


614  APPENDIX. 

1867,  in  the  little  brown  building  on  the  corner  of  Four-and-a-half  street  and 
Missouri  avenue,  and  then  and  there  constituted  themselves  as  the  National 
Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  with  Saunders  as  master,  Thompson 
as  lecturer,  Ireland  as  treasurer  and  Kelley  as  secretary.  The  other  offices 
were  left  vacant.  For  four  years  they  labored  zealously.  Kelley  resigned  his 
clerkship  and  went,  with  neither  scrip  nor  money,  among  the  unknown 
farmers  of  the  Northwest,  to  spread  the  Order.  His  only  letter  of  credit  was 
a  sort  of  "To  Whom  it  May  Concern"  epistle.  He  organized  a  grange  at 
Harrisburg,  Penn.,  one  at  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  one  at  Columbus,  O.,  and  perhaps 
one  or  two  others  on  his  way  to  Northern  Minnesota.  His  expenses  were 
met  by  the  $15  charter-fee  of  the  granges  he  organized,  and  occasional  pit- 
tances from  his  friends  in  Washington. 

For  four  years  this  septuary  brotherhood  met  frequently,  and  formally  once 
a  year  as  a  National  Grange.  A  quorum  was  not  always  present.  At  the 
Third  Annual  Session,  Worthy  Master  Saunders  delivered  his  inaugural,  with 
Secretary  Kelley  as  his  sole  auditory.  When  he  finished,  he  asked  leave  to 
print  in  the  next  day's  papers,  which  was  granted. 

The  constitution  required  that  every  subordinate  grange  should  be  composed 
of  not  less  than  rtine  men  and  four  women  ;  and  that  fifteen  such  granges  might 
ask  for  organization  as  a  State  grange.  The  first  State  grange  was  organized 
in  Minnesota,  February  23,  1869.  By  the  Fifth  Annual  Session  of  the  National 
Grange,  January  3,  1872,  about  200  granges  had  been  organized  ;  and  during 
1872,  1,074  were  organized,  abqut  half  of  which  were  in  Iowa  and  South  Caro- 
lina. In  1873,  8,668  subordinate  granges  were  organized,  and  11,941  in  1874. 
Then  came  the  attempt  at t co-operation  and  arbitration.  The  organization 
flourished  marvelously.  But  lack  of  discipline,  jealousy  and  envy  soon 
wrought  great  injury.  Politicians  and  other  designing  men  began  to  get  con- 
trol of  the  granges.  One  grange  was  organized  by  forty-five  bank-presidents, 
wholesale  dealers,  speculators,  etc.,  in  New  York,  and  represented  probably 
as  many  million  dollars.  In  such  ways  was  the  foundation  of  the  Order 
sapped.  Reduced  prcei^  secured  for  members  of  the  granges  from  manu- 
facturers under  "confidential"  pledges,  were  revealed,  and  damaged  both 
sides.  However,  the  prices  remained  reduced  to  a  large  extent.  A  perfect 
system  of  crop-reports  was  also  adopted.  Co-operative  stores  were  estab- 
lished, which  save  large  sums  annually  to  their  customers. 

The  Journal  of  Proceedings  of  the  Nineteenth  Annual  Session,  held  at  Bos- 
ton, November  11-20,  1885,  makes  a  pamphlet  of  230  pages.  It  shows  that 
the  National  Grange  has  about  $50,000  in  its  treasury,  and  that  since  1882  its 
receipts  have  more  than  met  expenses.  During  1885,  90  original  charters 
were  issued,  divided  among  23  States;  and  150  dormant  granges  were  reor- 
ganized between  September  i,  1884,  and  September  i,  1885. 


SOCIALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

The  industrial  movement  in  this  country  is  represented  by  the  Trades- 
unions  and  Knights  of  Labor.  In  addition  to  this,  there  is  a  special  move- 
ment, in  which  many  labor  organizations  heartily  sympathize,  that  makes 


APPENDIX. 

finance  the  prominent  issue.  This,  of  course,  assumes  the  political  form. 
The  movement  grew  out  of  the  National  Labor  Congress  immediately  after 
the  war. 

In  the  early  chapters  of  the  history,  we  have  given  some  account  of  the 
growth  of  Socialism.  It  was  not  until  at  the  close  of  the  war,  that  the  pres- 
ent form  of  this  movement  became  manifest.  At  present,  we  have  the  Social- 
istic Labor  Party,  the  International  Working-people's  Association  and  the 
International  Workingmen's  Association.  The  Socialistic  Labor  Party  at 
one  time  organized  under  the  name  of  the  Workingmen's  Party  of  the  United 
States.  Its  principles  and  measures  are  largely  those  now  indorsed  by  the 
Knights  of  Labor.  This  association  had  no  affiliation  with  the  anarchists. 
Anarchy  means  individualism,  and  it  has  gone  to  rot.  Socialism  means  the 
introduction  of  democracy  or  republicanism  in  the  economic  as  well  as  the  po- 
litical relations  of  men.  Socialism  makes  no  war  upon  capital;  but  its  object 
is  to  demand  the  abolition  of  the  control  of  the  natural  resources  or  natural 
wealth  of  the  world  by  individuals  or  corporations.  They  believe  in  the 
national  reservation  of  the  land,  control  of  the  railroads,  telephones,  tele- 
graphs, mines,  and,  finally,  of  all  industries  by  the  government. 

The  conservative  leaders  of  the  socialistic  movement  in  America  are  largely 
the  disciples  of  Carl  Marx,  and  are  at  perfect  harmony  with  the  trades-unions. 
Some  of  them  became  refugees  from  Germany,  immediately  after  the  revolu- 
tions of  1848.  One  of  the  best  representatives  of  this  movement  is  Mr.  F.  A. 
Sorga,  of  Hoboken,  New  Jersey,  —  a  man  of  education  and  deep  discernment. 
He  is  of  a  retiring,  modest  disposition,  and  seldom  associated  publicly  with 
the  movement.  He  has  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  the  distribution  of  the 
literature  of  the  movement.  One  of  the  first  societies  to  promulgate  socialism 
was  the  Turnverein.  Resolutions  adopted  by  them  show  their  hearty  sympa- 
thy with  the  labor  movement.  They  have  proved  their  love  for  our  country 
and  its  institutions,  not  only  on  the  battle-field  as  soldiers,  but  in  the  civil 
walks  of  life  as  citizens.  The  International  Working-peoples'  Association 
favor  the  destruction  of  the  existing  class-rule,  the  establishment  of  the  co- 
operative organizations  of  production,  exchange  of  equivalent  products  with- 
out profit,  regulation  of  all  public  affairs  by  free  contracts.  Members  of  this 
organization  are  divided  in  their  opinions,  —  some  of  them  inclining  to  the 
socialistic,  and  some  of  them  to  the  anarchist  opinion.  The  papers  published 
in  the  interest  of  this  organization  are  largely  anarchist,  and  the  anarchists 
themselves  seem  to  be  divided  into  two  classes  :  those  who  believe  in  violent 
denunciation  and  agitation,  and  those  who  believe  in  violent  action.  As  a 
rule,  it  is  not  safe  to  judge  any  organization  by  the  papers  conducted  under 
individual  control,  like  Der  FreJteit,  Most's  New  York  paper,  or  the  Alarm, 
formerly  edited  by  A.  R.  Parsons,  which  generally  express  the  individual 
opinions  of  the  writer. 

The  Inquirer,  of  Denver,  Col.,  which  is  claimed  as  an  advocate  of  this 
organization,  is  an  ably  conducted  and  moderately  radical  sheet.  It  favors 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  Trades-union  organizations,  and  all  legitimate  means 
of  the  solution  of  the  labor  problem  ;  and,  while  condemning  violence,  claims 
the  advantage  of  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  action,  and  utters  manful  pro- 
tests against  the  evils  of  the  wage-system. 

The   International   Workingmen's  Association   is  also  largely  socialistic. 


(5i6  APPENDIX. 

They  claim  that  the  first  duty  is  to  educate  the  masses,  prepare  for  the  coming 
days  of  the  revolution,  and  to  so  direct  that  there  may  be  secured,  as  a  result, 
a  system  of  co-operation  which  will  insure  justice  to  all.  In  some  of  the 
larger  cities,  communistic  societies  exist,  composed  largely  of  French  refu- 
gees and  French  citizens.  Among  the  members  of  these  societies,  we  find,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Internationalists,  both  socialists  and  anarchists.  The  So- 
cialistic party,  as  a  rule,  look  to  the  establishment  of  a  political  party,  and  the 
control  of  the  government,  political  and  economical,  by  the  wage-labor  class. 
Their  measures  are  similar  to  those  advocated  by  other  labor  organizations. 
It  can  be  said  of  the  International  and  Socialistic  propaganda  that  its  speakers 
and  writers  are  fluent  in  language,  persistent  in  effort  and  determined  in 
purpose. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


[IN  sketching  the  biographies  of  those  who  are  or  have  been  prominent  leaders  in  the  labor 
movement,  only  the  barest  outlines  can  be  given.  These  outlines  could  well  be  filled  in  with 
Interesting  incident  or  instructive  anecdote;  but  space  forbids.] 


ARTHUR,  PETER  M.,  was  born  in  Scotland,  about  fifty-five  years  ago,  and  came  to  America 
when  ten  years  of  age,  going  to  live  on  the  farm  of  an  uncle  in  New  York;  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  he  removed  to  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  where,  with  money  he  had  saved,  he  pur- 
chased  a  horse  and  wagon,  and  started  a  small  jobbing  business ;  when  he  was  about 
eighteen  years  old,  he  got  employment  as  wiper  in  an  engine-house  of  the  New  York  & 
Central  Railroad,  at  Schenectady;  he  rose  speedily  to  be  fireman,  and  then  engineer;  he 
was  early  attracted  to  the  organization  of  his  craft,  and  in  February,  iS74,.was  chosen  to  its 
highest  office;  since  that  date,  he  has  been  annually  re-elected  to  the  office  of  Chief  En. 
gineer  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers ;  his  official  headquarters,  and  conse- 
quently his  residence,  are  at  Cleveland,  O. ;  his  policy  of  using  all  conciliatory  means  in  the 
settlement  of  difficulties,  before  resorting  to  strikes,  has  brought  him  into  wideand  favorable 
notice  everywhere;  under  his  administration,  there  have  been  but  few  serious  strikes,  and 
these  occurred  mostly  in  the  early  part  of  his  incumbency;  he  possesses,  in  an  unusual 
degree,  the  confidence  of  the  order  over  which  he  presides ;  his  public  addresses  have 
become  noted  for  their  vigor  of  language  and  plain-speaking. 

BAILEY,  \V.  H.  —  Is  a  Canadian,  and  a  native  of  Hamilton,  Ontario;  Mr.  Bailey  has  done  the 
cause  good  service,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  his  associates  for  the  qualities  that  make  up 
:i  straightforward  and  manly  character. 

BARRY,  JAMES  H.,  of  San  Francisco,  is  about  30  years  old;  is  an  eloquent  and  convincing 
orator  and  brilliant  \vriter ;  editor  and  proprietor  of  Weekly  Star,  a  Labor  organ ;  was 
member  of  State  Legislature  a  few  years  ago,  and  made  an  excellent  record  as  an  advocate 
of  Labor  and  Reform. 

BARRY,  THOMAS  B. — Born,  July  17,  1852,.  at  Cohoes,  N.  Y. ;  in  1860  went  to  work  in  knitting, 
mill,  hours  being  from  5  A.  M.  to  6.30  P.  M.  ;  wages,  $6.00  per  month ;  first  joined  Carders' 
Union  in  1867,  which  lived  but  a  short  time;  in  1867  left  knitting-mills  to  learn  axe-polishing, 
but  as  company  wanted  six  months' work  for  nothing,  helped  axe-makers  instead;  in  1869 
effort  was  made  to  organize  the  trade,  without  success';  for  his  share  in  strikes  was  black- 
listed by  Manufacturers'  Association,  preventing  him  from  getting  work,  and  causing  much 
distress  to  himself  and  family;  directed  the  strike  for  ten  hours  in  Saginaw  Valley,  from 
eleven  and  a  half  to  twelve  in  saw-mills,  and  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  in  lumber  camps; 
xvas  arrested  five  times  for  leading  strikes ;  put  under  $30,000  bail,  and  sued  by  a  lumber 
king  for  $10,000  damages  ;  acquitted  in  one  criminal  suit,  four  still  pending;  in  civil  suit, 
judgment  of  $2.90  against  him,  but  was  appealed,  and  is  now  in  supreme  court.  The 
strike  was  a  success. 

BUCHANAN,  JOSEPH  R.  —  Born  in  Hannibal,  Marion  County,  Mo.,  December  6,  1851;  educated 
in  grammar  pay-schools  till  13;  began  earning  his  living;  educated  himself  further,  espe- 
cially for  business  ;  at  19,  kept  books  for  large  grain  commission-house  in  Illinois  ;  clerked 
until  1875;  learned  printing  business;  in  1876,  edited  and  managed  The  Republican,  daily, 
Louisiana,  Pike  county,  Mo.;  worked  as  printer  and  reporter  on  local  papers  in  1877  and 

6l7 


6l8  BIOGRAPHY. 

1878;  went  to  Denver,  November.  1878;  compiled  biographies  of  Colorado  (1878)  Legisla- 
ture; managing  editor  of  the  Democrat,  and  business-manager  six  months  of  the  Daily 
Republican,  which  succeeded  the  Democrat  ;  joint-owner  of  a  job  office;  in  1879  made  hon. 
orary  member  of  Typographical  Union  No.  49,  and  went  to  Leadville  and  worked  at  the 
case  until  the  spring  of  iSSo;  was  discharged  for  sympathizing  with  striking  miners; 
returned  to  Denver  in  iSSi,  and  worked  at  the  case;  in  1882,  delegate  to  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  at  St.  Louis;  started  Labor  Enquirer,  December  16,  188.2,  with  S.  II. 
Laverty;  soon  bought  him  out;  joined  Knights  of  Labor  as  charter  member  of  Labor 
Assembly  2327,  December,  1882;  organized  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  men  in  1884,  and 
settled  strikes  in  May  and  August, on  friendly  terms,  still  continuing;  delegate  to  General 
Assembly,  at  Philadelphia,  1884;  then  chosen  member  of  General  Executive  Board;  not  a 
candidate  for^e-election;  chosen  assistant  member  at  Cleveland. 

CARLTON,  ALBERT  A.,  was  born  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1847;  at  the  age  of  ten  vears  he  began 
work  in  a  shoe-shop,  to  add  to  the  income  of  his  father's  family ;  he  worked  at  his  trade 
until  July  16,  1865,  when  at  the  age  of  17,  he  enlisted  for  the  war ;  after  meritorious  ser- 
vices in  the  army,  he  returned  to  Lynn, and  entered  the  shops  as  a  shoe-cutter;  he  displayed 
an  early  interest  in  labor  organizations,  and  was  a  member  of  the  first  cutters'  unions,  also 
of  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin ;  he  was  prominently  identified  with  the  Lynn  Workingmen's 
Association,  whose  purposes  were  political;  in  1877  he  joined  the  Knights  of  Labor,  as  a 
member  of  Local  Assembly  1715;  he  at  once  displayed  ability  as  an  organizer,  and  was 
chosen  Master  Workman  of  the  district  at  its  first  session,  —  an  office  from  which  he  retired 
at  Lowell,  January  19,  1886,  having  rendered  brilliant  services  as  an  organizer  of  the  Order; 
on  his  retirement  he  was  presented  with  a  gold  watch  and  chain  as  a  testimonial;  he  was 
elected  delegate  to  the  General  Assembly  at  Detroit,  1879,  but  was  unable  to  attend,  owing 
to  the  lack  of  funds  in  the  treasury;  he  served  in  General  Assemblies  at  Cincinnati,  Phila- 
delphia, Hamilton,  Cleveland  and  Richmond;  January,  iSS6,  his  conspicuous  ability  as  a 
public  speaker,  gained  him  an  appointment  at  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Board  as  general 
lecturer  for  the  Order;  in  this  latter  position  he  has  traveled  far  and  wide,  and  delivered  a 
large  number  of  speeches. 

CLINE,  ISAAC.  —  Born  at  Winslow,  N.  J.,  January  12,  1835;  when  young,  worked  in  window- 
glass  factory;  in  early  life,  lived  in  Cincinnati,  Millville,  N.  J.,  Winslow,  Pittsburgh,  and 
Croton,  Penn.;  in  1852,  came  again  to  Pittsburgh;  apprenticed  to  learn  blowing  window- 
glass  ;  went  to  Wheeling;  again  to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  joined  first  window-glass  workers' 
organization,  May,  1858 ;  to  Croton,  in  1859,  where  he  worked  till  May,  1861 ;  formed  a  com- 
pany of  volunteers,  joined  looth  Pennsylvania,  remained  in  service  till  July  27,  1865,  serving 
with  honorable  distinction;  became  identified  with  Window-glass  Blowers'  Union  in  1872; 
president  of  Artsman's  Association;  in  iSSi,  chosen  president  of  Local  Assembly  300,  and 
held  place  ever  since;  in  1884,  helped  organize  window-glass  workers  of  Europe,  and 
form  Universal  Federation  of  Window-glass  Workers,  being  its  first  president. 

COOK,  WILLIAM.  —  Born  in  Philadelphia,  March  4,  1822;  his  grandfather  on  the  maternal  side 
was  a  Swede,  and  on  the  paternal  side,  English;  attended  the  public  schools  until  fifteen; 
apprenticed  to  the  tailor's  trade,  serving  six  years ;  joined  the  Garment-cutters'  Association 
in  1865;  has  been  Worthy  Foreman  of  his  local  for  the  past  twelve  years;  his  average 
attendance  is  the  best  in  the  local,  being  absent  on  an  average  from  but  four  meetings  a  year. 

GRAIN,  WILLIAM  H.,  of  Cuero,  Texas,  was  born  at  Galveston,  Texas,  November  25, 1848 ;  gradu- 
ated at  Saint  Francis  Xavier's  College,  New  York  city,  July  i,  1867,  and  received  the  degree 
of  A-  M  several  years  afterwards ;  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Stockdale  &  Proctor,  Indian- 
ola,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  February,  1871 ;  has  practised  law  since  that  time ;  was 
elected  a  State  Senator  on  the  Democratic  ticket  in  February,  1876 ;  was  elected  as  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  district-attorney  of  the  Twenty-third  Judicial  District  of  Texas  in 
November,  1872;  and  was  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat. 

DALEY,  EDWARD  L.  —  Born  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  October  6,  1855;  educated  in  common  schools 
until  eleven;  admitted  to  Holten  high  school  in  Danvers;  graduated  there  at  thirteen; 
apprenticed  at  shoemaker's  trade,  and  worked  at  that,  especially  lasting,  ever  since;  was 
member  of  Knights  of  St.  Crispin  in  Danvers  and  Lynn;  one  of  the  sixteen  who  founded 


BIOGRAPHY.  619 

Lasters'  Protective  Union  in  Lynn,  in  1879,  which  was  named  by  him  ;  was  its  first  secre- 
tary, and  member  of  its  Advisory  Board  its  first  two  years ;  was  chosen  general  secretary 
of  Lasters'  Protective  Union  of  New  England  in  April,  1885 ;  unanimously  re-elected  in 
1886;  author  of  petition  to  Legislature  of  1885  to  abolish  convict-labor;  was  among  first  to 
organize  Lasters' Protective  Unions  in  shoe-towns  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire;  mem* 
ber  of  Local  Assembly  715,  Knights  of  Labor,  since  its  organization. 

DOUGLAS,  WILLIAM  L.,  shoe-manufacturer,  of  Brockton,  Mass.,  was  born  in  Plymouth, 
Mass.,  August  22,  1845,  and  was  educated  in  his  native  place.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Brockton  Common  Council  in  1881  and  1882;  and  was  a  member  of  the  House  in  1882  and 
1883,  serving  on  the  Committee  on  Towns  the  first  year,  and  on  the  Finance  Committee  in 
1883;  member  of  Massachusetts  Senate,  1886. 

DYER,  JOSIAH  B.,  was  born  at  Village  of  Cross,  parish  of  Luxillian,  county  of  Cornwall, 
England,  January  5,  1843 ;  joined  Operative  Stone-masons'  Society,  of  England  and  Wales,  . 
when  between  seventeen  and  eighteen  years  old ;  learned  stone-cutting  on  granite,  freestone 
and  limestone ;  before  coming  to  this  country  worked  for  John  Freeman  &  Sons,  of  Penryn, 
Cornwall,  for  about  eight  years ;  landed  at  Castle  Garden,  in  March,  1871 ;  worked  at  Fall 
River,  Dix  Island,  East  Cambridge,  Boston,  Graniteville,  Mass.,  Ayer  Junction,  Lowell, 
etc.;  he  was  elected  Secretary  of  Granite-cutters'  Union,  November,  1878,  to  fill  unexpired 
term  of  T.  H.  Murch ;  his  brother,  J.  Edward  Dyer,  was  General  Secretary  of  the  O.  S.  M. 
Society,  of  England  and  Wales,  for  about  eleven  years,  and  dying  in  office,  the  union 
erected  a  monument  to  his  memory  in  Sheffield;  he  was  born  in  a  trades-union  family, 
father  and  brothers  being  all  union  men;  he  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  first 
Local  Assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  organized  in  Boston;  as  Secretary  of  the  Granite- 
cutters'  Union,  he  was  removed,  with  headquarters  of  union,  from  Rockland  to  Boston, 
from  Boston  to  Westerly,  R.  I.,  from  Westerly,  to  Quincy,  Mass.,  from  Quincy  to  Phila- 
delphia. 

FARQUHAR,  JOHN  M.,  of  Buffalo,  was  born  near  Ayr,  Scotland,  April  17,  1832;  was  educated 
at  Ayr  Academy;  has  been  for  thirty-three  years  a  printer,  editor,  or  publisher;  is  now  a 
manufacturer  of  lubricants ;  was  president  of  the  National  Typographical  Union  two  terms, 
1860-62;  enlisted  in  the  Union  Army  as  a  private  in  the  Eighty-ninth  Illinois  Infantry,  rose 
to  the  rank  of  major,  and  served  as  judge-advocate  and  as  inspector  on  the  staff's  of  Generals 
Willich,  Beatty,  and  Wood  in  the  Fourth  Army  Corps;  participated  in  all  the  battles  of  the 
former  Twentieth  (McCook's)  and  Fourth  Army  Corps,  excepting  Missionary  Ridge;  never 
held  civic  office  until  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Republican. 

FORAN,  MARTIN  AMBROSE,  of  Cleveland,  was  born  at  Choconut,  Susquehanna  County,  Penn., 
November  n,  1844;  received  a  public-school  and  collegiate  education;  spent  two  terms  in 
Saint  Joseph's  College,  Susquehanna,  Penn.;  taught  school  three  years;  served  in  the 
Fourth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  from  April,  1864,  to  July,  1865,  as  private;  is  a  cooper  by 
trade;  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Ohio,  1873;  is  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, having  been  admitted,  1874,  in  the  District  Court  of  Cincinnati;  was  prosecuting 
attorney  for  the  city  of  Cleveland,  from  April,  1875,  to  April,  1877;  was  elected  to  the 
Forty -eighth  Congress,  and  was  re-elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat. 

FOSTER,  FRANK  K.,  was  born  in  Palmer  (Thorndike),  Mass.,  December  18,  1855;  was  edu- 
cated in  common  schools  and  at  Monson  Academy ;  learned  the  printer's  trade  at  the  office 
of  the  Churchman,  Hartford,  Conn.,  afterwards  working  as  compositor  in  various  cities; 
his  first  connection  with  the  labor  movement  was  as  a  member  of  the  Hartford  Typographi- 
cal Union,  of  which  he  was  secretary;  he  came  to  Boston  in  iSSo,  and  was  president  of  the 
Cambridge  Typographical  Union,  from  which  body  he  went  as  a  delegate  to  the  Interna- 
tional Union,  at  St.  Louis;  by  the  latter  body  he  was  chosen  delegate  to  the  Federation  of 
Trades  Convention,  at  Cleveland,  O. ;  he  was  delegate  to  this  same  body,  in  1883,  repre- 
senting the  Boston  Central  Trades  and  Labor  Union,  and  was*  chosen  secretary;  first 
joined  the  Knights  of  Labor  as  a  member  of  Local  Assemby  2006,  and  was  elected  delegate 
to  Convention  of  District  30,  June,  1882;  elected  Secretary  of  District  30,1883;  delegate  to 
General  Assembly,  at  Cincinnati,  1883;  elected  chairman  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
General  Assembly  at  that  session ;  he  has  served  as  delegate  to  General  Assemblies  at  Phila- 


62O  BIOGRAPHY. 

delphia,  Hamilton,  Clevchuul  and  Richmond;  has  been  a  member  of  Executive  Board  of 
District  No.  30  ever  since  its  existence;  September  30,  1886,  nominated  for  Lieutentant. 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  by  the  Democratic  Convention,  at  Worcester;  founder  and 
present  editor  of  Haverhill  (Mass.)  Daily  and  Weekly  Laborer. 

FOSTER,  WILLIAM  H.,  secretary  of  the  Federation  of  Trades,  was  born  in  Liverpool,  Eng. 
land,  May  3,  1847;  taught  school  when  but  fifteen;  went  to  learn  the  printing  business, 
July  i,  1862,  at  Porta  Down,  county  Armagh,  Ireland,  serving  four  years;  finished  his 
trade  in  Berylyton  Steaip  Printing  Works,  Liverpool ;  became  a  journeyman,  July  i,  1869; 
joined  Liverpool  Typographical  Society  as  apprentice  member;  soon  as  had  finished  ap- 
prenticeship secured  situation  in  Buxton,  Derbyshire;  came  to  America  early  in  October, 
1873;  stayed  in  Philadelphia  four  or  five  weeks;  went  to  Cincinnati;  worked  on  Gazette 
till  the  celebrated  lockout  on  July  18,  1874;  went  to  Philadelphia  soon  after;  in  June,  1877, 
went  to  Cincinnati  Enquirer  ;  in  1878,  elected  president  of  Typographical  Union  No.  3  and 
secretary  of  Trades-Assembly,  in  formation  of  which  he  was  a  moving  spirit;  here  ac- 
quired the  title  of  the  "  Original  Boycotter  " ;  was  leader  in  the  successful  efforts  to  make 
the  Enquirer,  Sun,  Gazette  and  Commercial  union  offices;  February  14, 1880,  with  Patrick 
Caulfield,  started  the  Exponent,  one  of  the  pioneer  labor  papers;  about  this  time  elected 
delegate  to  the  Twenty -eighth  Session  of  the  International  Typographical  Union;  was 
chairman  on  committee  on  amalgamated  unions,  etc.,  whose  action  finally  culminated  in 
the  first  Trades-union  Convention,  at  Pittsburgh,  in  November,  1 88 1,  when  he  represented 
the  Cincinnati  Trades-assembly ,  elected  secretary  of  the  convention,  which  selected  for  the 
title  of  the  new  organization,  "  Federation  of  Trades  and  Labor  Unions  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada";  was  secretary  two  years;  at  convention  in  Washington,  1885,  was 
again  elected  secretary;  in  1883,  went  to  Philadelphia  Evening'  Call,  began  active  warfare 
against  the  non-union  papers  of  that  city ;  elected  president  of  Typographical  Union  No.  2, 
in  April,  1884;  was  delegate  from  No.  2  to  preliminary  meeting  of  Central  Labor  Union,  of 
which  body  he  has  been  secretary  ever  since.. 

GEORGE,  HENRY.  —  Born  September  2,  1839,  in  Philadelphia,  of  an  old  Pennsylvania  family; 
educated  in  public  schools  until  thirteen;  classmate  of  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton;  office 
boy  in  commercial  house  two  years;  went  to  sea;  visited  every  part  of  the  globe;  returned 
to  Philadelphia  after  two  years;  was  printer  short  time;  went  to  sea  again;  wenttoCali- 
forniaand  British  Columbia;  became  compositor  in  San  Francisco;  in  1867  became  a  re- 
porter; in  five  months  became  manager  of  the  paper;  in  iS6S,  visited  New  York ;  interested 
in  social  question;  wrote  "  Our  Land  and  Our  Land  Policy";  in  1870,  became  editor  of 
Sacramento  paper;  removed  for  opposing  Pacific  Railroad  Company;  started  San  Fran- 
cisco  Daily  Post,  originally  Republican;  joined  Democrats  in  1872;  represented  California 
in  convention  that  nominated  Greeley;  began  writing  "  Progress  and  Poverty  "in  1877; 
finished  in  1879;  in  1880,  removed  to  New  York;  since  then  has  visited  England,  Ireland 
and  Scotland ;  spoke  on  land  question  all  over  the  Kingdom ;  is  author  of  several  books  on 
social  problems,  which  have  been  translated  in  many  languages,  and  given  him  wide  repu- 
tation; has  also  written  much  of  leading  American  and  English  magazines. 

HAVKS,  JOHN  W.  —  Born  in  Philadelphia,  December  26,  1854;  when  nine,  was  taken  to  Europe 
by  parents,  and  remained  several  years;  upon  return,  through  financial  reverses  of  family, 
went  to  work  as  brakeman  on  Pennsylvania  railroad;  served  for  eight  years;  settled  in 
New  Brunswick,  N,  J.;  still  lives  there;  in  1878,  while  on  duty,  was  thrown  on  track, 
and  train  passed  over  his  right  arm,  necessitating  amputation;  compelled  to  seek  other 
employment,  became  a  telegraph  operator;  in  1883,  was  delegate  to  the  Chicago  Telegraph, 
ers'  Convention,  which  ordered  the  great  strike,  in  which  he  took  a  prominent  part;  upon 
failure  of  strike,  went  into  grocery  business ;  now  owns  two  large  stores  in  New  Bruns. 
wick ;  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  Knights  of  Labor  in  New  Jersey,  and  his  connection 
with  the  Order  dates  back  to  1874;  in  1879,  he,  with  the  assistance  of  several  others,  called 
the  first  New  Jersey  Congress,  and  has  since  been  its  president  twice. 

HILSKB,  JAMES  MADISON. —  Born  in  the  old  <'Dock"  ward,  now  fifth,  Philadelphia,  Octo. 
ber  2,  1821;  attended  private  schools  until  nearly  sixteen;  then  worked  for  his  father,  a 
tailor;  is  of  the  sixth  generation  of  Anierican  stock  which  came  originally  from  England; 
was  member  of  the  volunteer  (hose)  fire  company  from  twenty-one  until  the  disbandment 


BIOGRAPHY.  621 

of  the  volunteer  fire  department;  the  annals  of  the  fire  department  of  Philadelphia  con- 
tain  accounts  of  his  daring-  feats  in  saving  life  and  property;  Mr.  Ililsee  is  a  bachelor;  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Garment-cutters'  Association,  and  an  active  member  in  it  until  its 
dissolution;  is  an  active  member  of  his  Knights  of  Labor  assembly,  and  devotes  much 
time  and  attention  to  the  progress  of  the  Order  in  the  Quaker  City. 

HOWARD,  ROBERT.  —  Born  in  Northwich,  Cheshire,  Eng.,  of  Irish  parents,  1844  or  l^S<  a* 
eight,  set  to  learn  piecing  in  a  Macclesfield  silk-mill;  removed  to  Bollington,  where  he 
got  work  as  a  piecer ;  moved  to  Stockport,  where  he  got  work  as  a  bobbin-boy,  being  then 
but  ten  years  old;  at  fifteen  he  became  a  spinner;  at  twenty -five,  president  of  the  Spinners' 
Union;  declined  offer  as  overseer,  because  he  could  not  do  the  domineering  required; 
prominent  in  the  agitation  for  nine  hours  in  textile  industries ;  by  conciliatory  advice 
averted  many  strikes;  in  1873,  he  came  to  Fall  River;  worked  three  years  as  spinner  in  the 
Flint  Mill ;  in  1878,  chosen  secretary  of  the  Fall  River  Spinners'  Association ;  in  1879, 
chosen  its  permanent  secretary;  in  iSSo,  chosen  to  the  State  House  of  Representatives, 
receiving  the  nomination  of  both  parties,  where  he  was  foremost  among  the  supporters  of 
labor  legislation ;  declined  a  renomination ;  in  1882,  his  friends  in  England  sent  him 
a  splendid  testimonial,  to  show  their  appreciation  of  his  services ;  began  the  agitation,  in 
Rhode  Island,  in  1883,  for  ten  hours  for  women  and  children ;  prevailed  on  Governor 
Bourne  to  recommend  such  legislation,  which  was  enacted  in  1885 ;  also  advocated  ten  hours 
before  the  Maine  Legislative  Labor  Committee;  has  frequently  advocated  labor  reform 
measures  before  Massachusetts  legislative  committees ;  in  1885,  chosen  to  State  Senate 
from  Second  Bristol  District  as  a  Democrat;  also  became  associate  editor  of  Wade's  Fibre 
and  Fabric;  from  1881  to  1885,  he  was  treasurer  of  the  Federation  of  Trades  and  Labor 
Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada;  was  once  secretary  of  the  National  Cotton, 
spinners'  Association;  in  May,  1885,  the  Cotton-spinners'  Union  of  Fall  River  formed  an 
assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  unanimously  adopted  his  name  and  chose  him  as  secre- 
t  tary.  Mr.  Howard,  although  a  leader  in  labor  matters,  has  always  commanded  the  respect 
of  both  sides  to  an  unusual  degree. 

JARRETT,  JOHN.  —  Born  January  27,  1843,  at  Elbow  Vale,  Monmouthshire,  Eng.,  of  Welsh  par- 
entage ;  left  an  orphan  at  twelve ;  put  to  work  in  iron-mill ;  at  eighteen,  came  to  America ; 
went  to  Duncanville,  Blair  County,  Penn.;  worked  as  puddler  four  years;  in  November, 
1865,  went  to  Lochiel  Mill,  near  Harrisburg;  joined  Puddlers'  Union  ;  in  1867  went  to  Eng. 
land  to  settle  property  affairs ;  remained  there  four  years  ;  worked  at  his  trade ;  became  head 
of  Workingmen's  Union,  and  won  strike  against  reduction  of  wages  ;  such  a  victory  re- 
markable  against  the  odds  ;  in  1872  returned  to  America ;  joined  Sons  of  Vulcan ;  chosen  a 
vice-president  in  1873 ;  was  prominent  in  organizing  Amalgamated  Association ;  chosen  a 
vice-president  and  trustee;  in  1879,  chosen  president  to  fill  vacancy;  in  iSSi ,  chairman  of 
Federation  of  Trades ;  re-elected  president  of  Amalgamated  Association  for  three  terms, 
retiring  in  October,  1883;  chosen  secretary  of  American  Tinned-Plate  Association,  which 
office  he  now  holds. 

JONES,  FRANK  W.,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  is  foreman  in  a  shoe-factory;  was  born  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  August  20, 1855,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools ;  a  member  of  the  House  the 
past  two  years ;  he  served  on  the  Committee  on  Election-Laws  the  first  year,  and  on  the 
Committee  on  Public  Charitable  Institutions  the  second;  member  of  Massachusetts  Sen- 
ate, 1866. 

KEEN,  ROBERT  WILLIAMSON. — Born  in  the  old  district  of  Spring  Garden,  April  8,  1832;  traces 
ancestry  back  to  1638,  to  old  Swedish  settlers,  before  Penn's  time;  name  then  spelt  "Kyn"; 
served  apprenticeship  to  his  father,  a  tailor ;  worked  as  journeyman  until  the  war ;  enlisted 
for  three-months'  service  in  tyie Twenty-second  Pennsylvania;  re-enlisted  in  the  Ninety-ninth 
Pennsylvania  for  three  years ;  was  wounded  severely  at  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  De- 
cember 13,  1862,  but  soon  recovering,  again  took  the  field;  was  mustered  out  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  of  service;  is  a  member  of  Curry  Post,  No.  18,  G.  A.  R. ;  joined  the  Gar- 
ment-cutters' Association  in  1867;  at  formation  of  first  local  assembly  Knights  of  Labor  he 
was  chosen  Worthy  Foreman. 

KENNEDY,  JOSEPH  SMITH.  —  Born  in  Philadelphia,  February  i,  1821,  of  American  parents; 
his  great-great-grandfather  was  Scotch;  his  grandmother  was  one  of  the  numerous  families 


622  BIOGRAPHY. 

of  Smiths  of  Chester  County;  educated  at  private  school  until  fifteen;  at  sixteen  appren- 
ticed to  a  tailor;  served  five  years;  joined  the  Garment-cutters'  Association  two  or  three 
months  after  its  formation,  and  was  treasurer  for  some  years,  and  until  its  dissolution ;  held 
the  office  of  treasurer  at  the  formation  of  the  Knig-hts  of  Labor,  and  was  also  elected 
Unknown  Knight,  retaining  his  office  as  treasurer  until  1879. 

LAWLER,  FRANK,  of  Chicago,  was  born  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  June  25,  1842;  attended  a  public 
school  until  thirteen  years  of  age,  when,  owing  to  a  serious  accident  which  befell  his 
father,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  school  and  seek  employment  in  a  brick-yard,  where  he 
continued  to  labor  for  two  years ;  was  news-agent  on  railroads  for  three  years ;  learned  the 
trade  of  ship-builder,  was  elected  president  of  the  Ship-carpenters'  and  Ship-calkers'  Asso- 
ciation, and  took  an  active  part  in  organizing  trade  and  labor  unions;  became  agent  for 
The  Work  in g man's  Adr'ocaie,  a  newspaper;  was  appointed,  upon  the  request  of  the  trade 
and  labor  organizations,  to  a  position  in  the  Chicago  post-office,  which  he  held  from  1869  to 
1877;  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Chicago  City  Council  from  the  eighth  ward  in  April, 
1876,  and  was  re-elected  in  1878,  iSSo,  1882  and  1884;  engaged  in  business  in  1878  at  Chicago 
as  a  liquor  merchant,  and  was  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat. 

LEFFINGWELL,  SAMUEL  LANGDALE.  —  Born  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  of  English  and  Scotch  de- 
scent; was  early  apprenticed  to  a  printer,  and  has  always  followed  that  trade;  in  July,  1850, 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati  Typographical  Union,  and  has  held  important  offices 
in  printers'  unions;  in  February,  1852,  formed  such  a  union  at  Columbus,  Ohio;  in  1856, 
was  made  president  of  the  Cincinnati  Typographical  Union ;  in  July,  president  of  the  one 
at  Columbus;  in  July,  1875,  joined  the  Knights  of  Labor,  at  Indianapolis;  was  commis- 
sioned organizer,  and  has  organized  more  than  a  score  of  assemblies ;  represented  Indian- 
apolis Trades-Assembly,  at  first  session  of  Federal  Congress  of  Trade  and  Labor  Unions; 
in  1882,  was  president  of  the  Congress  at  Cleveland;  has  been  delegate  to  several  important 
sessions  of  General  Assembly  Knights  of  Labor;  in  September,  1885,  organized  Indiana 
State  Federation  Trade  and  Labor  Unions ;  chosen  president  twice ;  established  several 
labor  papers,  including  the  former  organ  of  the  International  Typographical  Union ;  in 
August,  1847,  enlisted  for  the  Mexican  War,  and  served  to  its  close;  in  August,  1861,  was 
commissioned  major  in  the  Thirty-first  Ohio;  at  battle  of  Mills  Springs,  transferred  to 
Forty-fifth;  major  in  Eighty-seventh;  made  prisoner  at  Harper's  Ferry,  September  15, 1862; 
paroled;  mustered  out,  1863;  commanded  a  regiment  in  Southern  Ohio  to  repel  John  Morgan; 
February,  1864  enlisted  as  private  in  First  Ohio  Cavalry;  at  battles  of  Decatur,  Rome, 
Kenesaw,  Marietta,  Atlanta;  January,  1865,  assigned  to  special  duty  at  Sherman's  head- 
quarters; honorably  discharged,  June  n,  1865. 

LOVERING,  HENRY  B.,  of  Lynn,  was  born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  April  5,  1841;  was  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  Lynn,  and  has  since  been  connected  with  Lynn's  great  industry, 
the  manufacture  of  shoes;  was  representative  to  the  State  Legislature  in  1872  and  1874; 
was  assessor  In  1879  and  iSSo;  was  Mayor  of  Lynn  in  iSSi  and  1882;  was  elected  to  the 
Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat,  supported  by  the  People's  Party. 

MACAULEY,  ROBERT  CALVIN.  —  Born  in  County  Antrim,  Ire.,  February  2,  1840;  at  age  of  nine 
removed  to  Philadelphia;  had  strong  tastes  for  mathematics  and  wonderful  memory; 
before  leaving  Ireland  could  repeat  large  portions  of  the  Bible  and  Burns'  poems ;  reached 
Philadelphia,  September  2,  1849;  was  placed  at  Nixon-street  School;  at  eleven  was  appren- 
ticed to  a  tailor,  whom  he  shortly  left  because  of  his  drunkenness;  worked  with  other 
tailors  for  three  years ;  at  twenty-one  started  in  business ;  was  soon  after  married ;  in  1865, 
joined  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Union;  in  1866,  giving  up  business,  became  a  foreman,  and 
joined  Garment-cutters'  Association ;  was  chosen  its  secretary  in  1867,  and  held  the  office 
until  its  dissolution;  about  this  time  joined  the  Knights  of  Pythias;  was  first  secretary  of 
Knights  of  Labor;  became  partner  with  Mr.  Stephens,  as  R.  C.  Macauley  &  Co.,  1128 
Market  street,  which  in  time  became  the  headquarters  of  the  Knights  of  Labor;  was  chosen 
Master  Workman  in  1871,  succeeding  Mr.  Stephens;  in  his  administration  first  Assembly 
outside  of  original  one  was  formed,  —  Ship-carpenters  and  Calkers,  No.  2;  gave  up  business 
and  became  foreman  in  wholesale  clothing-house. 

MAGCIRE,  JAMES  G.,  native  Californian,  35  years  of  age ;  commenced  life  as  a  farmer  boy,  soon 
forsook  the  furrow  for  the  anvil ;  at  early  age  secured  a  school,  and  commenced  the  double 


BIOGRAPHY.  623 

task  of  teaching  others,  while  studying  law  for  himself;  removed  to  San  Francisco  on  being 
admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar,  and  in  a  short  time  secured  a  lucrative  practice;  chosen 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  which  place  he  now  holds;  his  papers  on  the  Land  Reform 
C^uestion,  published  in  the  Weekly  Star,  have  been  widely  read,  and  pronounced  an  able 
exposition  of  the  subject. 

McB RIDE,  JOHN.  —  Born  of  humble  parentage,  in  Wayne  County,  O.,  July  25,  1854;  moved  to 
Massillon,  1859;  at  nine  commenced  work  in  a  coal  mine;  at  sixteen  joined  Miners'  Union; 
in  1883,  by  unanimous  vote,  elected  its  president,  and  again  in  1884,  1885  and  1886;  in  1881, 
nominated  by  the  Democrats  of  Stark  County  for  representative,  defeated  by  only  sixty- 
three  votes ;  in  1883,  again  a  candidate,  elected  by  nearly  seven  hundred  majority ;  again 
elected  in  1885;  in  legislature  recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  on  the  Democratic  side;  in 
legislation  favored  the  farmers;  author  of  bill  which  gave  first  appropriation  to  Gettysburg 
Memorial  Fund;  in  1886,  Democratic  candidate  for  secretary  of  State. 

McGAW,  HOMER  L. —  Born  at  Bethlehem,  O.,  April  8,  1845;  in  1853,  entered  a  country  rinting 
office  as  "  devil " ;  at  this  early  age  he  joined  in  a  strike,  which  was  a  success ;  after  leaving 
the  army,  went  through  college  on  the  money  he  had  saved  in  the  army  and  working  in 
coal-mines,  printing  offices,  etc.,  graduating  second  in  his  class;  became  an  accountant  in 
Pittsburgh ;  before  twenty -one  was  made  cashier  of  the  East  Liberty  Savings  Bank,  of  that 
city;  in  1868,  he  organized  the  book-keepers  and  salesmen  of  the  city  into  a  union,  but  it 
failed;  the  lessons  of  the  panic  of  1873  caused  him,  with  others  of  similar  views,  to  open 
correspondence  with  Eastern  labor  leaders,  among  whom  was  Uriah  S.  Stephens,  founder 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor;  one  of  the  first  assemblies  of  Knights  was  soon  after  organized 
in  Mr.  McGaw's  printing  office;  chosen  Master  Workman  of  District  Assembly  3,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1884,  holding  the  office  one  year,  during  which  time  all  troubles  were  settled  satisfac- 
torily to  all  concerned,  without  collecting  or  expending  a  cent  for  strikes ;  chosen  General 
Insurance  Secretary  of  the  Order  in  1883,  and  has  been  re-elected  by  acclamation  at  every 
succeeding  session;  he  has  built  up  within  the  Order  an  assessment  insurance  association, 
which  has  cost  its  members  about  a  cent  a  day  for  an  indemnity  of  $500,  and  nearly  $35,000 
has  already  been  paid  by  it  to  widows  and  orphans;  retained  by  the  Trades-Assembly 
of  Western  Pennsylvania  to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  conspiracy  laws  of  the 
State. 

McGuiRE,  PETER  J.  —  Born  in  New  York  city,  July  6,  1852,  of  Irish  parents;  educated  in 
public  schools;  studied  evenings  in  Cooper  Institute  and  evening  high  school;  took  high 
rank  ia  all;  in  1867,  apprenticed  to  wood-joiner;  in  1872,  joined  Union  of  his  trade;  has 
been  very  active  in  labor  interests  all  his  life,  and  very  influential,  being  delegate  repeatedly 
to  important  conventions;  in  iSSo,  secured  passage  of  important  labor  bills  in  Missouri 
Legislature;  organized  labor  bureau  of  that  State;  became  Greenbacker  in  1876,  and 
stumped  Missouri  with  great  success  in  iSSo;  in  August,  iSSi,  organized  Brotherhood  of 
Carpenters  and  Joiners;  in  spring  of  iSSi,  arrested  for  conspiracy  in  labor  troubles,  refused 
release  on  half  million  offered  bail ;  finally  acquitted  after  seven  hours'  trial ;  drafted  call 
for  convention  that  formed  Federation  of  Trades;  delegate  to  International  Workingmen's 
Congress  in  Switzerland,  iSSi ;  studied  labor  movement  in  Europe;  helped  Central  Labor 
Union  of  New  York;  secured  adoption  of  "Labor's  Holiday";  since  August,  iSSi,  Gen- 
eral Secretary  of  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters;  re-elected  for  next  two  years;  extricated  it 
from  debt,  and  put  it  on  sound  financial  basis ;  has  lectured  in  every  State  in  Union,  Canada, 
Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick;  addressed  over  2,100  meetings;  worked  at  his  trade  in 
nearly  a  score  of  cities,  and  always  busy  in  cause  of  labor;  in  May,  1886,  chosen  secretary 
of  National  and  International  Trades-unions,  and  secretary  of  its  standing  committee; 
these  are  some  of  the  principal  points  in  his  very  active  connection  with  labor  interests. 

McNEiLL,  GEORGE  E.,  was  born  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  August  4,  1836;  his  father,  John  Mc- 
Neill,  was  one  of  the  first  to  unite  with  his  neighbor,  John  G.  Whittier,  in  the  anti-slavery 
movement;  he  worked  as  a  bov  in  the  woolen-mills  of  his  native  town  at  the  time  of  the 
great  strike  in  1851 ;  about  this  time  he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade;  settled  in  Boston  in 
1856;  joined  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  filled  the  highest  offices ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
grand  Eight-hour  League,  and  founded  the  Workingmen's  Institute;  he  was  appointed 
first  Deputy  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  under  General  H.  K. 


624 


BIOGRAPHY. 


Oliver,  serving  until  May,  1873;  for  eight  years  he  was  President  of  the  Eight-hour 
League,  also  State  Secretary  of  the  Sovereigns  of  Industry,  and  President  of  the  Inter- 
national Labor  Union,  of  America,  in  which  latter  capacity  he  addressed  public  meetings 
in  many  States  of  the  Union ;  in  Chicago  he  addressed  over  13,000  people,  the  labor  socie- 
ties having  challenged  Joseph  Cook  to  meet  him  in  debate ;  he  was  connected  as  editor  and 
associate  editor  with  the  New  York  Labor  Standard,  Fall  River  Labor  Standard,  Pater- 
son  Labor  Standard  and  Paterson  Home  Journal ;  he  has  attended  many  labor  congresses 
and  conventions  in  various  parts  of  the  country ;  as  a  member  of  the  School  Committee  of 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  succeeded  in  establishing  free  evening  drawing-schools ;  he  was  ap- 
pointed Treasurer  of  District  30,  Knights  of  Labor,  May,  1884 ;  was  elected  to  that  position 
in  January,  1885,  and  was  subsequently  made  District  Secretary -Treasurer ;  re-elected  unani- 
mously in  January,  1886;  resigned  at  the  July  session,  1886,  receiving  the  thanks  of  the 
District  Convention,  appropriately  engrossed  on  parchment,  in  consideration  of  his  valua- 
ble services;  he  has  been  successful  as  an  arbitrator  of  differences  between  employers 
and  employees,  notably  in  the  great  horse-car  strike  in  Boston ;  in  1886,  represented  the 
Knights  of  Labor  before  committees  of  Congress  in  the  winter  and  early  spring  of  1886. 

MORROW,  WILLIAM  W.,  of  San  Francisco,  was  born  near  Milton,  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  July 
15,  1843;  removed  with  his  parents  to  Illinois  in  1845,  and  settled  in  Adams  County;  went 
to  California  in  1850;  received  a  common-school  education,  supplemented  by  private  tuition 
in  special  branches ;  in  the  spring  of  1862,  joined  a  party  which  discovered  gold-placers  on 
the  headwaters  of  the  John  Day  River,  in  Oregon  ;  engaged  in  mining  for  a  season  ;  returned 
East  in  January,  1863,  intending  to  pursue  a  course  of  studies  in  some  Eastern  college;  but 
the  active  operations  of  the  government  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  drew  him  to  Washing- 
ton, where  he  was  appointed  to  a  position  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ; 
served  in  the  National  Rifles,  a  military  organization  raised  in  the  District  of  Columbia; 
appointed  Special  Agent  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  January,  1865,  and  placed  in  charge 
of  a  large  shipment  of  treasure  to  California;  employed  during  the  next  four  years  in  con- 
fidential positions  under  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1869,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession ;  Assistant  United 
States  Attorney  for  California  from  1870  to  1874;  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central 
Committee  of  California  from  1879  to  1882;  Attorney  for  the  State  Board  of  Harbor  Com-, 
missioners  from  iSSoto  1883;  Chairman  of  the  California  Delegation  to  the  National  Re- 
publican Convention  at  Chicago  in  1884,  and  was  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a 
Republican. 

O'NEILL,  JOHN  J.,  of  St.  Louis,  was  born  June  25,  1846,  of  Irish  parents ;  received  a  com- 
mon-school education ;  was  in  the  Government  civil  service  during  the  war,  and  was  after- 
wards engaged  in  manufacturing  pursuits;  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  from  St. 
Louis  in  1872,  and  re-elected  in  1874  and  1876;  was  nominated  for  Congress  in  1878  by  the 
Workingmen's  Party,  but  withdrew ;  was  elected  to  the  Municipal  Assembly  of  St.  Louis 
in  1879,  and  re-elected  in  iS8i ;  was  elected  to  the  Forty -eighth  Congress,  and  was  re-elected 
to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat. 

PASCOE,  DAVID  M.,  born  in  Philadelphia,  October  26,  1859;  educated  in  public  schools;  at  fif- 
teen apprenticed  to  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Company,  publishers;  served  five  years;  remained 
journeyman  until  November,  1884,  when  he  assumed  control  of  the  Tocsin,  the  labor  paper 
of  the  Quaker  City,  which  he  still  retains ;  at  twenty-one,  joined  Typographical  Union 
No.  2;  in  iSSi,  trouble  being  imminent  over  an  increase  in  prices,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to 
select  a  conservative  committee  to  meet  the  employers,  Mr.  Pascoe  was  chosen,  and  the 
result  was  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  threatened  rupture;  at  the  Pittsburgh  session  of 
the  International  Typographical  Union,  the  delegates  from  No.  2  reported  five  newspapers 
unionized  within  a  year,  —  a  creditable  showing,  brought  about  more  through  the  conserva- 
tive manner  In  which  Mr.  Pascoe  and  his  co-laborers  had  acted  towards  the  proprietors  than 
any  other  reason;  in  April,  1884,  elected  secretary  of  local  union;  re-elected  in  1885;  in 
>SS6,  declined  a  third  term ;  delegate  to  convention  of  International  Union  at  Pittsburgh,  and 
chairman  of  his  delegation ;  youngest  man  ever  selected  by  the  Philadelphia  Union  as  its 
delegate  to  the  central  body;  elected  secretary -treasurer ;  is  an  active  member  of  the  Central 
Labor  Union,  also  of  Local  Assembly  3879  (printers),  Knights  of  Labor,  which  he  organ- 
ized; during  the  strike  in  the  carpet  trade,  in  the  winter  of  1884-5,  he  stood  '"  the  shadow  of 
the  penitentiary  for  his  fearless  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the  carpet-weavers. 


BIOGRAPHY.  625 

POWDERLY,  TERENCE 'ViNCENT.  —  Born  at  Carhondale,  Penn.,  January  24, 1849,  °f  Irish  paren- 
tage; had  seven  brothers  and  four  sisters,  being  the  eleventh  child;  attended  school  six 
years;  at  thirteen  became  a  switch  tender  for  D.  &H.C.  Co.;  at  seventeen  entered  its 
machine-shop;  in  1869  went  to  Scranton  shops  of  D.  L.  &  W.  R.  R.  Co.;  in  1870  joined 
Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  National  Union;  soon  became  its  president;  began  studying 
the  labor  problem;  in  1872  was  married ;  trades-unions  too  narrow  for  him;  in  November, 
1874,  joined  Local  Assembly  No.  88,  Knights  of  Labor ;  soon  induced  all  his  union  to  join 
the  Knights,  and  they  organized  Local  Assembly  No.  222,  November,  1876;  in  1876  a  dis- 
trict assembly  was  organized,  and  he  chosen  secretary;  in  January,  1879,  chosen  General 
Worthy  Foreman ;  in  September,  1879,  chosen  Master  Workman,  which  office  he  has  held 
ever  since;  in  1878  was  chosen  Mayor  of  Scranton,  also  in  1880  and  1882,  declining  a  nomi- 
nation in  1884;  has  practically  reorganized  the  Knights  of  Labor;  has  given  his  whole  time 
and  talents  to  their  cause  for  several  years,  having  spoken  for  the  Order  all  over  the  United 
States  and  Canada;  has  been  prominent  in  the  Irish  Land-League  movement  here,  being 
chosen  second  vice-president  in  1883. 

SKEFFINGTON,  HENRY  J.  —  Born  March  5,  1858,  at  Marysvillc,  Yuba  County,  Cal.,  of  Irish 
parents ;  soon  after  removed  to  Philadelphia,.where  has  lived  nearly  ever  since ;  educated 
in  Catholic  schools ;  at  thirteen  was  sent  to  Portage  City,  Wis.,  to  study  for  priest's  orders  ; 
after  one  year  returned  to  Philadelphia;  after  being  apprenticed  to  several  trades,  learned 
trade  of  shoemaking,  and  has  followed  it  ever  since;  reduction  of  wages  caused  hands  to 
join  Knights  of  Labor ;  he  was  too  young  to  join,  although  desiring  to,  being  only  fifteen ; 
joined  Shoemakers'  Local  Assembly,  No.  64,  in  winter  of  1878 ;  was  soon  advanced  from 
subordinate  offices  to  be  Master  Workman  by  unanimous  vote;  while  in  that  office,  success- 
fully resisted  reduction  of  wages,  and  helped  women  employees  to  regain  a  large  reduction  ; 
these  women  subsequently  founded  first  local  assembly  of  women  in  the  Order,  being  Gar- 
field  Assembly,  No.  1684;  largely  by  his  efforts,  shoemakers  got  charters  as  "locals"  of 
their  own ;  in  spring  of  1884,  organized  the  body  Brussels  carpet-weavers,  the  first  local 
of  that  trade  in  Philadelphia;  November  15,  1884,  two  thousand  ingrain  carpet-weavers 
voted  a  strike  against  reduction  of  wages;  in  three  weeks,  Mr.  Skeffington  had  them  all 
members  of  Knights  of  Labor;  in  January,  1885,  was  sent  to  New  York  to  organize  shoe- 
makers, which  was  done  by  six  -weeks  of  hard  work ;  for  over  three  years  worked  hard 
and  successfully  toward  national  organization  of  his  craft,  finally  securely  founding,  June, 
1884,  National  Executive  Council  of  Shoe  and  Leather-workers  of  America,  Knights  of 
Labor;  has  been  delegate  repeatedly  to  important  conventions. 

STEPHENS,  URIAH  SMITH.  —  Born,  August  3,  1821,  near  Cape  May,  N.J.  Paternal  grandfather 
killed  in  the  Revolution;  maternal  ancestry,  Q^uakers;  educated  for  Baptist  ministry; 
compelled  to  learn  a  trade;  became  a  tailoj?;  of  studious  and  methodical  habits;  after 
serving  apprenticeship  as  tailor,  taught  school  in  New  Jersey;  in  1845  removed  to  Philadel- 
'  phia;  in  1853  went  to  West  Indies,  Central  America  and  California;  in  1858  returned  to 
Philadelphia;  was  cordial  supporter  of  Fremont,  in  1856,  and  of  Lincoln,  in  1860;  about 
1863  joined  Garment-cutters'  Association;  when  it  dissolved,  December  9,  1869,  with  six 
others,  he  founded  the  Knights  of  Labor;  January  6,  1870,  was  chosen  first  Master  Work- 
man of  General  Assembly  No.  i  ;  December  28,  1871,  was  chosen  statistician;  in  1873  was 
chosen  first  District  Master  Workman  of  District  Assembly  No.  i ;  was  instrumental  in 
forming  nearly  every  local  assembly  up  to  1876,  when  health  began  to  fail;  January  i,  1878, 
was  chosen  first  Grand  Master  Workman  of  the  General  Assembly ;  was  recording  sec- 
retary of  his  local  assembly  at  his  -decease;  was  member  of  Masonic,  Odd  Fellows' and 
Knights  of  Pythias  lodges,  also;  they  were  invited,  through  the  press,  to  attend  his  funeral, 
but  no  labor  organizations  were  so  remembered ;  was  buried  in  Mount  Peace  Cemetery, 
Philadelphia. 

SWINTON,  JOHN.  —  Born  in  Illinois,  December,  1830;  early  learned  printer's  trade;  moved  to 
New  York  about  1850;  studied  medicine  and  law;  chief  of  editorial  staff  of  Times  from  1860 
through  the  war,  and  till  Raymond's  death  in  1869;  then  with  Horace  Greeley  on  the  Tri- 
bune, until  about  1874;  then  chief  of  staff  of  the  Sun,  until  1883,  when  he  resigned  to  start 
"John  Swinton's  Paper."  In  the  Spring  of  1874  became  active  champion  of  workingmen  ; 
that  fall  nominated  with  great  enthusiasm  by  them  for  mayor,  but  polled  only  two  hundred 
votes ;  has  taken  active  part  as  public  speaker,  writer  and  worker,  in  all  the  movements  of 


626  BIOGRAPHY. 

labor  in  New  York  since  1874,  speaking  at  hundreds  of  meetings  there,  and  all  over  the 
country;  was  very  active  in  the  railroad  strike  year  of  1877,  and  presided  at  the  great  Toinp- 
kins  Square  demonstration ;  for  the  last  few  years  has  given  up  everything  and  sacrificed 
everything  for  the  cause  of  labor. 

TARSNEY,  TIMOTHY  E.,  of  East  Saginaw,  was  born  at  Ransom,  Hillsdale  County,  Mich., 
February  4,  1849;  was  educated  at  the  common  schools;  served  seven  years  as  a  marine 
engineer,  meantime  reading  law;  entered  the  Law  Department  of  Michigan  University,  in 
1870,  and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1872;  was  justice  of  the  peace,  1873  and  1874;  was  City 
Attorney  in  1875-78,  when  he  resigned,  serving  as  ex-officio  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors at  the  same  time,  and  was  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  as  a  Democrat. 

TREVELLICK,  RICHARD  F.  — Born,  May  2, 1830,  at  Saint  Mary's,  one  of  the  Scilly  Islands,  Eng- 
land;  early  went  to  sea;  from  fifteen  to  twenty  apprentice  in  a  ship-yard;  at  twenty  again 
•went  to  sea,  visiting  Africa,  India  and  China;  in  1852  helped  organize  Eight -hour  League, 
at  Auckland,  New  Zealand;  in  1857  joined  eight-hour  movement  at  Melbourne;  in  1855 
«ntered  service  of  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company  at  Panama;  again  went  to  sea;  em- 
ployed by  United  States  in  building  docks  and  steamboats  in  Gulf  of  Mexico;  elected 
president  of  Ship-carpenters'  and  Calkers'  Union;  successfully  agitated  for  nine  hours; 
again  atsea;  in  1862  foreman  of  Marine  Railway,  New  York;  went  to  Detroit ;  president  of 
Ship-carpenters'  and  Calkers'  Union,  No.  4;  in  1865,  president  of  Ship-carpenters'  and 
Calkers'  International  Union;  discharged  and  blacklisted  for  connection  with  labor 
reform;  organized  trades-assembly;  chosen  president;  chosen  delegate  to  International 
Labor  Congress  in  Europe  ;  chosen  president  of  National  Labor  Union,  1871-73-  in  1874-5 
helped  form  Greenback  party  ;  in  1876  delegate  to  National  Greenback  convention  and  presi- 
dent of  State  Greenback  convention;  in  iSSo,  presided  over  National  Greenback  convention 
•  also  at  Michigan  State  convention  ;  was  one  of  twelve  founders,  at  Louisville,  of  National 

'       Labor  Union  and  Industrial  Brotherhood  ;  is  honorary  member  of  seven  trades-unions. 

TURNER,  FREDERICK. —  Born  in  England  in  1846;  came  to  this  country  at  10;  educated  in 
schools  of  Philadelphia;  graduated  from  its  high  school;  learned  the  trade  of  gold-beating, 
which  he  worked  before  his  duties  as  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  became 
too  burdensome;  in  1873  he  organized  forty  of  his  fellow  gold-beaters  as  Local  Assembly 
20,  and  afterwards  organized  Local  Assembly  28,  the  first  in  New  York;  chosen  secretary- 
treasurer  of  the  organization ;  tvvice^e-elected  one  of  the  general  Executive  Board. 

WEAVER,  J.  B.,  of  Bloomfield,  was  born  in  Dayton,  O.,  June  12,  1833;  had  a  common-school 
education  in  his  boyhood ;  graduated  at  the  Law  School  of  the  Ohio  University,  at  Cin- 
cinnati, in  1854;  is  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  one  of  the  editors  of  the  lotva  Tribune, 
published  at  Desmoines,  la.;  was  elected  District  Attorney  of  the  Second  Judicial  Dis- 
trict of  Iowa,  in  1866,  and  served  four  years;  was  appointed  by  President  Johnson 
assessor  of  internal  revenue  for  the  first  district  of  Iowa,  in  1867,  and  served  six  years  ; 
was  elected  to  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  ;  was  nominated  in  1880,  at  Chicago,  by  the  Na- 
tional Party,  as  their  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States,  and  received  about 
350,000  votes  ;  was  elected  to  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  by  the  Nationals  and  Democrats, 
having  been  nominated  and  supported  by  both,  receiving  16,684  votes,  against  16,617  v°tes 
for  Campbell,  Republican. 

WEIHE,  WILLIAM.  —  Born  January  21,  1845,  in  Baldwin,  Penn.;  when  a  boy  moved  to  Pitts- 
burgh ;  about  1860  began  working  in  bar-iron  mill ;  afterward  became  a  boiler  worker ;  re- 
mained at  that  business  until  iSSo  ;  joined  Sons  of  Vulcan  ;  filled  several  local  offices ;  in 
1878  chosen  member  of  Permanent  Executive  Committee  ;  in  1879  chosen  Trustee  of  Amal- 
gamated Association,  and  succeeded  President  Jarrett,  when  he  resigned  ;  was  re-elected  in 
1884  ;  has  served  several  terms  on  school  board  ;  in  1882  chosen  as  member  of  State  Assem- 
bly by  Workingmen  and  Democrats. 

WILKINSON,  JOSEPH,  —  Secretary  of  the  Journeymen  Tailors'  National  Union,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, March  23,  1856;  he  left  school  at  the  age  of  twelve  to  learn  the  tailor's  trade  in  his 
native  place;  he  arrived  in  the  United  States  in  1872,  and  since  then  has  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  labor  movement  in  New  York  city;  with  J.  P.  McDonnell,  of  the  Paterson 


BIOGRAPHY.  627 

Labor  Standard,  Adolph  Strasscr  and  others,  he  founded  the  Amalgamated  Trade  and 
Labor  Union,  of  New  York  city,  and  actively  agitated  for  the  enactment  of  beneficial  labor 
legislation  in  New  York  State,  such  as  the  establishment  of  a  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
the  abolition  of  prison  convict-contract  labor,  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor,  and  the  aboli_ 
tion  of  the  manufacture  of  cigars  in  tenement-houses ;  the  latter  measure  after  being  passed 
was  decided  unconstitutional  by  the  Court  of  Appeals.  When  the  call  was  issued  in  1884 
for  :i  Convention  of  the  Journeymen  Tailors  of  the  United  States,  in  Chicago,  he  was  elected 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  to  represent  the  New  York  union;  in  the  convention  he  was 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  secretaryship  of  the  National  Union,  and  was  unanimously  re- 
elected  at  the  convention  held  in  Baltimore,  in  August,  1885  ;  though  busily  engaged  in  the 
labor  movement,  he  still  found  time  to  improve  his  mind  by  study  ;  he  attended  the  evening 
high  school  in  New  York  for  three  successive  winters,  and  also  belonged  to  the  literary 
class  attached  to  the  Cooper  Union,  where  he  acquired  a  readiness  in  debate  and  eloquence 
of  speech  ;  he  still  works  at  his  trade. 

BRIGHT,  JAMES  LENDRIW.  —  Born  in  County  Tyrone,  Ire.,  April  6,  1816,  of  Scotch. Irish  an- 
cestry;  family  soon  removed  to  St.  John,  N.  B.,  and  to  Philadelphia,  when  he  was  in  his 
eleventh  year;  early  education  in  Mt.  Vernon  grammar  school  and  in  private  academy  of 
Charles  Mead;  was  early  apprenticed  to  George  W.  Farr,  tailor;  served  over  six  years; 
at  his  majority  became  member  of  Tailors'  Benevolent  Society;  in  1847  begun  in  business 
in  Frankfort,  near  Philadelphia,  whither  he  removed  in  1848;  in  1854  became  manager  of 
large  clothing-house;  in  1862  helped  organize  Garment-cutters'  Association;  was  its  presi- 
dent many  years,  and  when  it  dissolved;  was  very  active  in  labor  matters  at  this  period, 
traveling  much  and  forming  many  lodges,  and  paying  most 'of  his  expenses;  in  1878  had 
54,000  votes  as  Greenback-Labor  candidate  for  State  treasurer,  and  82,000  votes  for  Secre- 
tary  of  Internal  affairs,  by  same  parties ;  was  chosen  first  Venerable  Sage  of  Local  Assem. 
bly  No.  i,  Knights  of  Labor;  afterwards  Master  Workman  ;  always  an  earnest  and  ready- 
advocate  of  the  Order. 

O'DoNOGHUE,  DANIEL  J.  —  Born  in  County  Kerry,  Ire. .August  i,  1844;  removed  with  parents 
in  1852  to  Bytown,  Can.,  which  subsequently  became  Ottawa;  at  thirteen  apprenticed  him- 
self to  printer;  remained  there  for  following  nine  years;  also  was  active  member  of  St. 
Patrick's  Literary  Association,  and  of  a  volunteer  fire  company ;  joined  volunteer  militia 
rifle  company  and  studied  military  tactics;  refused  to  take  oath  of  allegiance  to  Queen 
Victoria  when  Fenian  movement  arose,  holding  the  order  so  to  do  an  unjustifiable  insult 
to  Irish  loyalty;  removed  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  soon  after,  and  obtained  situation  on  Com- 
mercial Advertiser  ;  joined  Typographical  Union;  spent  a  few  weeks  in  Ottawa  in  May 
and  June,  and  set  on  foot  measures  culminating  in  formation  of  a  Typographical  Union  ; 
worked  in  Chicago  and  Memphis  for  balance  of  year;  then  in  New  Orleans  and  Mobile, 
returning  to  Ottawa  in  following  August;  for  next  ten  years  worked  at  trade;  helped  form 
many  local  trades-unions  ;  was  several  times  president  or  secretary  of  local  trades- 
councils ;  was  first  vice-president  of  Canada  Labor  Union,  formed  at  Toronto,  1868-9; 
many  times  president  of  Ottawa  Typographical  Union;  in  1874,  chosen  by  workingmen  of 
Ottawa  to  the  Provincial  Legislature  to  fill  vacancy;  in  1875,  re-elected  for  the  term  of  four 
years;  was  originator  and  advocate  of  many  important  labor  measures,  which  became 
law ;  in  1879,  removed  to  Guelph,  unable  to  get  work  at  trade  in  Ottawa  on  account  of  his 
trades-union  sentiments  ;  after  eighteen  months  removed  to  Toronto,  where  now  resides  ;  in 
188},  joined  Knights  of  Labor;  represented  them  at  the  Hamilton  and  Cleveland  Conven- 
tions; in  188.2,  represented  Toronto  Typographical  Union  No.  91 ;  since  then  Labor  Assem- 
bly No.  2305,  of  which  he  was  financial  secretary  for  two  years  ;  is  now  Secretary  of  Legis- 
lative Committee  of  Trades  and  Labor  Council  ;  also  employed  in  Ontario  Bureau  of 
Industries  and  Statistics ;  has  been  newspaper  reporter,  editor  and  publisher,  and  cot  - 
tributor  to  labor  journals  and  various  widely  circulating  newspapers  of  England. 


STATISTICAL  DIAGRAMS 


THE    GROWTH    OF    TRADES-UNIONISM    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES, 

DISPLACEMENT    OF    MANUAL   LABOR   BY   MACHINERY,   COST 

OF    LIVING    AND    RATES   OF  WAGES,   AND   OTHER 

PHASES    OF   THE   LABOR   PROBLEM. 


Prepared  expressly  for  "  The  Labor  Movement" 


BY  CHAS.    F.    PIDGIN, 

CHIEF  CLERK   MASSACHUSETTS    BUREAU    OF   STATISTICS   OF    LABOR. 


EVERY   science  or  art  needs  a  definition  —  a  short,  easily   'remembered 
one.     No  more  graphic  or  comprehensive   one   can   be   supplied   for 
statistics  than  history  -written  in  figures.     Since  1869,  when  the  first 
bureau  of  statistics  of  labor  was  established,  the  history  of  the  labor  move- 
ment has  certainly  been  written    in    figures,  collected   by  the  National  and 
the  various  State  bureaus,  by  city,  State  and  National  committees  of  investi- 
gation, by  labor  organizations,  and  by  the  individual  efforts  of  persons  in- 
terested in  social  and  economic  advancement. 

The  historian  who  uses  figures  has  an  advantage  over  the  one  who  relies 
upon  words  alone ;  his  readers  can  grasp  in  a  one-page  statistical  table  what 
ten  pages  of  words  would  fail  to  express  as  plainly.  Now,  the  artist  has 
come  to  the  aid  of  the  statistical  historian  with  colored  maps,  charts,  and 
diagrams.  Language,  of  course,  will  never  lose  its  power  to  convey  thought 
from  mind  to  minds,  but  in  statistical  presentations  the  statistical  table  or 
diagram  supplies  the  statement  and  argument,  while  words  are  used  but  for 
description  or  explanation. 

The  aim  has  been,  in  the  following  diagrams,  to  present  some  salient  labor 
statistics  in  the  most  crystallized  form.  These  tables  have  been  prepared  with 
the  greatest  care  from  the  latest  official  statistics.  They  are  closely  in  line 
with  the 'subject  of  the  Labor  Movement,  and  are  intended  to  illustrate  both 
the  history  and  the  problem  of  which  the  book  treats.  Many  of  the  subjects 
are  such  as  have  never  before  been  the  object  of  the  engraver's  art,  such  as 
those  dealing  with  the  causes  and  results  of  Strikes  and  Lockouts,  the  growth 
of  Trades  Unionism,  and  kindred  topics.  And  yet  these  are  of  vital  interest 
in  connection  with  the  present  movement.  The  tables  showing  comparative 
wages,  cost  of  living,  the  displacement  of  muscular  labor  by  machinery,  and 
the  profits  of  employers  and  employees,  teem  with  living  interest,  and  are 
closely  related  to  the  general  labor  problem.  The  diagrams  have  all  been 
prepared  with  scientific  accuracy  from  official  statistics,  and  the  artist  has  been 
mathematically  correct  in  reducing  the  original  pen-and-ink  sketches  to  the 
size  of  the  printed  page. 

(628) 


TRADES-UNIONISM    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


NUMBER    OF    SOCIETIES. 


THE    TARIFF    QUESTION.  — 1885. 

TOTAL   IMPORTS. 


z 

D 

3' 

8L    5 
w     «*. 

o     13 

=•   m 

a     Z 
o     D 


33 

m 


DISPLACEMENT  OF  MUSCULAR  LABOR   BY 
MACHINERY. 


PROPORTION  DISPLACED  BY  MACHINERY. 
Agricultural  Implements  . 


PROPORTION    NOW    EMPLOYED. 


s.  small  , 


Boots  and  shoes 

Shoe  sewing 

Heel  trimming 

McKay  machine  work    .     .    . 

Heel  nailing 

Bottom  finishing 

Brick 

Fire-brick 

Brooms      .......... 

Carriages  

Carpeting* 

Cotton  goods 

Furniture 

Flour 

Glass  jars 

Hats  (stiff) 

Hats  (medium) 

Hat  cutting 

Leather,  morocco 

Leather,  patent 

Lumber  (staves) 

Machines  and  machinery    •     • 
Metals  and  metallic  goods      . 

Brass  finishing 

Pig  iron 

Steel     

Tin  ware  (all  kinds)  .... 

Tin  Cans 

Lead  pails  (tin) 
Bread  boxes  (tin)  .     . 
Mining,  coal      ... 
Mining  phosphate      .     .     .    . 
Musical  insts.  ( woodwork )     . 
Musical  insts.(soundii>g  bds.), 

Paper    ....     

Paper,  wall 

Pottery  (low  grades)  .     . 

Railroad  supplies  .     .     . 

Railroad  cars  (parts  of )      .     . 
Rubber  boots  and  shoes      .     . 

Saws 

Shipbuilding      .    . 

.Silk  goods 

Silk  winding      ... 

Silk  weaving 

Soap 

Tobacco    . 

Trunks ...         

Wine 

Wooden  ware 

Wool  carding 

Wool  spinning 

Wool  weaving 


COMPARATIVE    PRICES 
IN   THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  GREAT   BRITAIN. 


Board  and  lodging      .    .    . 

COMPARISON    OF    DAILY  WAGES  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES 
1830    AND    I860. 


Ship  and  boat  builders  .  . 

Shoemakers 

Tanners  and  curriers  .    .  . 

Wooden  goods  makers  .  . 

Woollen  mill  operatives  .  ) 


COST    OF    LIVING 
IN   THE   UNITED  STATES  AND  GREAT   BRITAIN. 


I 

*  Basis  of  yearly  expenditure  in  tin-  1'nitcd  States  $"50;  in  Croat  Britain,  $500. 


III.'  I'nited  Staff 
Great  liritai 


Great  Britain 

Tin-  I  'nit.'d  states 

The  I'nited  States 


A=ll.4!)%  due  to  higher  rent*. 
13=  5.80%  higher  cost  of  luiug. 


STANDARD    OF    LIVING    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES   AND 
GREAT    BR1TAI 

The  Tniled  States.    .    . 
Great  Brita 

COMPARATIVE    PRICES    IN    THE  UNITED    STATES: 

186( 


Dry  goods  .... 

Food  preparations  (raisins 
added)          ......  1 

1 

Letter  paper       

Spices  and  condiment 


PROFITS:    BY    INDUSTRIES. 


Relations  of  Stock  Used,  Wages  Paid,  Interest  and  Expenses,  and 

Net  Profit. 


Artisans'  tools 


limits 


Building  trades       .... 

Carpetings 

Carriages  and  wagons    .    . 

Clothing 

Cotton  goods  ..... 
Dye  W,.rks  and  bleacheries 

Furniture 

Leather     

Machines  and  machinery  . 
Metals  and  metallic  goods 
Musical  instruments  .  .  . 

Paper    

Printing  and  publishing  . 
Rubber  and  clastic  goods  . 

Stone    

Straw  goods 

Tobacco . 

Wooden  goods 

Woollen  goods 

Worsted  goods 


PROFITS:    BY  INDIVIDUALS. 

Relation  of  the  Yearly  Earnings  of  Employe,  and  the  Yearly  Net 
Profit  per  Employe. 

Boots  and  shoes 

Leather 

Machines  and  machinery    .    . 
Musical  instruments    ... 
Artisans'  tools  ...... 

Straw  goods 

Wooden  goods  ...... 

Furniture 

Tobacco     

Metals  and  metallic  goods 

Building  trades 

Worsted  goods 

Carriages  and  wagons    .    .    . 

Cotton  goods 

Carpetings 

Clothing 

Stone     

Rubber  and  elastic  goods  .    . 
Printing  anil  publishing     .     . 

Paper    

Woollen  goods 

Dye  works  and  bleacheries     . 

CAUSES  OF  STRIKES  AND   LOCKOUTS   IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 

Rates  of  wages 

Payment  of  wages      .... 

Hours  of  labor 

Adminis't'n  &  methods  of  w'k, 
Trades-unionism   .     . 


Not  given  . 

RESULTS  OF  STRIKES  AND   LOCKOUTS   IN  THE   UNITED 
STATES. 

Lost . 
Won 
Compromised 

KeMilt  not  giv. 


COMPARATIVE    WAGES: 
THE   UNITED  STATES  AND  GREAT   BRITAIN. 


Agricultural  Implement*  .  | 
Art  i»«n«  tool*  .....) 
Boot*  and  «hoe«  ... 


THE  UNIT 


GREAT  BRITAIN. 


Liquors :  mnlt  and  distilled, 
Machines  and  Machinery  . 
Mrtal«  and  metallic  good*  . 


Wonted  goods 


COMPARATIVE    TABLE    OF    THE    EARNINGS    OF    LABOR    AXD 
CAPITAL   INVESTED   IN   MANUFACTURES,    1880,    1870. 


iSS 

0. 

IM 

£  f 

•K~ 

1870 

j 
4-i 

STATE. 

PERSONS 
EMPLOYED. 

AVERAGE 
WAOKS. 

SI 

W£ 

1° 

PH 

PERSONS 
EMPLOYED. 

AVERAGE 
WAGES. 

g| 

^§- 

£y 

Alabama       .... 
Arizona   

10,017 
2  2O 

$249.67 

we.  3.6 

.26 
.46 

8,248 
84 

$270.12 
<J42.6s 

•56 

.  IQ 

Arkansas      .... 
California     .... 
Colorado  

4.557 
43-693 

C.O74 

203.06 

482.13 
4^6.  ii 

.48 
•36 

•  72 

3,206 
25,392 
876 

2IO.2I 
5I7.35 

cii.66 

•79 

•45 

.2C 

Connecticut.      .     . 
Dakota     

112,915 

868 

386.14 

7QO.QS 

•33 
.66 

89,523 
gi 

435-49 

231.03 

•37 
64. 

Delaware      .... 
District  of  Columbia  . 
Florida     

12,638 
7,146 

5.CO4 

337-66 

548.92 

2?6.QO 

.21 
.46 
.38 

9,710 

4,685 

2,74Q 

380.34 
426.80 
3^0.08 

.26 

•50 
80 

Georgia    

24,86? 

211.78 

.34 

17,871 

27I.O8 

re 

Idaho  

188 

3CI.3C 

.c7 

26  C 

424.  04 

31 

Illinois     

144,727 

3.06.80 

.47 

374.70 

48 

6o,'Cs8 

31^.72 

.3Q 

^8,8^2 

3I2.O8 

C2 

Iowa    

28,372 

3.42.8O 

•  37 

2C.O33 

27<C.  36 

.C3 

Kansas     

12,072 

33O.Q3 

.48 

6,71:4 

352.01 

OJ 

.76 

Kentucky      .... 
Louisiana     .... 
Maine.     ... 
Maryland      .... 
Massachusetts  .     .     . 
Michigan      .... 
Minnesota    .... 
Mississippi  .... 
Missouri  . 

37,39* 
12,167 

52,954 
74>945 
352,255 
77,601 

21,247 

5,827 
Cti  ooc 

317.10 
358.37 

257-25 
252.25 
364.21 
326.17 

405.37 
204.67 
370  86 

•36 
•47 
•3o 
•36 
•38 
•34 
•38 

•35 
.41 

30,636 
30,071 
49,180 
44,860 
279,380 
63,694 
11,290 

5,841 

6C,7CJ. 

308.28 

152.75 

290.40 

283.73 
422.54 
332.92 
358.97 

264.92 

47c.i8 

•53 
•39 
•39 
•52 
•43 
.40 

•43 
•49 

•  74. 

Montana  .... 

c78 

r  r  T  .  48 

.r6 

7OI 

?2Q.O2 

•  44. 

Nebraska      
Nevada     .... 

4,793 

c77 

363.49 
8OO  3? 

•54 
.  ?o 

2,665 

2,81:0 

536.55 

877.77 

•J* 

.64 

.TQ 

New  Hampshire    . 
New  Jersey  .... 
New  Mexico 
New  York     .... 
North  Carolina 
Ohio    .... 

48,831 
126,038 

557 
527,533 
18,109 
187  600 

305-43 
373-56 
392-69 

357-55 
i5i-34 

34,1     T,S 

•30 
.40 

.42 
•39 
•3i 

.37 

40,783 
75,552 
427 
351,803 
13,622 

137.  IO2 

338.94 
432.13 
391.29 
404.96 

i6i.n 
•JC7.66 

•35 

.42 

•30 
•5i 
•49 

•  44. 

Oregon    .... 

3373 

.  C2 

2,884 

388.40 

•  ?1 

Pennsylvania    . 
Rhode  Island    . 
South  Carolina 
Tennessee    .... 
Texas  

387,072 
62,878 
12,128 

22,445 

1  2.  1  CO 

372.16 

339-63 
233.86 
234.60 

274.  04 

•3» 
•32 

•35 
•39 

.47 

319,487 
49,417 
8,141 
19,412 

7.Q27 

400.57 

39!-65 
189.62 

278.21 

22C.C3 

•39 
.28 

•45 
•58 
•61 

Utah    

2.4QC 

344.23 

.34 

I.C-J4 

2C7.73 

.ro 

Vermont  

I7-C4O 

3OO.  14 

.34 

28,686 

2l8.37 

.24 

Virginia  

40.  1  8-1 

180.30 

.43 

26,074 

190.66 

-4O 

Washington 
West  Virginia  .     .'    . 
Wisconsin    .... 
Wyoming  Territory  . 

1,147 
H>3" 
57,109 

391 

464.01 
301.44 

329-45 
480.30 

•23 

•33 
•32 
•30 

1,026 
",772 

43>9!o 

505 

560.36 

367-I5 
309.19 
692.38 

•44 

•47 
.42 

•15 

Totals    .... 

-,738,915 

$346.10 

•36 

2,053,996 

$377-59 

•45 

AGRICULTURE. 

RELATIVE    NUMBER    OF   CHILDREN   AND    OLD    PERSONS     ENGAGED. 


STATE. 

TOTAL 
NUMBER 

MALES 

FEMALES 

60  YEARS 

AND 

TOTAL  OF 
NON-PRO- 

TOTAL OF 
PRODUCTIVE 

ENGAGED. 

jo  TO  15. 

10  TO  15. 

OVER. 

DUCTIVE 
AGE. 

AGE. 

Alabama  .... 

380,630 

53*854 

20,608 

26,929 

101,491 

279^39 

34.7C 

80 

82 

171 

32C4. 

Arkansas 

'TOJ 

216,655 

09 
26,118 

6,138 

8,902 

41,158 

1*  OT 

175,507 

California     .     .     . 

79*396 

1,128  • 

30 

4,958 

6,n6 

73,280 

Colorado  .... 

13*539 

335 

6 

563 

904 

12,635 

Connecticut 

44,026 

1,214 

3 

8,H5 

9,332 

34,684 

Dakota     .... 

28,508 

570 

12 

1,029 

1,611 

26,897 

Delaware       .     .     . 

17,849 

1,634 

36 

1,711 

3*38o 

13,469 

Dist.  of  Columbia 

1,464 

ii 

126 

137 

1,327 

CS  771 

£  &  ir\ 

2,68o 

A     T77 

12.  CO2 

46,229 

OU'/OA 

J.T>  2O4. 

0'UJV9 
c6  fine 

2C  008 

T',*  /  J 
27.604. 

*     *  Ow'*' 
IIO.7O7 

721   8o7 

Idaho  

^£«}«VW. 

•>  8c8 

ou'uyj 

CO 

«jt«^J0 

*4  i~^~"t 
132 

*  ***>%}    * 

182 

j^1  *UV/ 
7  676 

Illinois      .... 

O)<J01-' 

436,371 

iu 
.  27,998 

310 

27,750 

56,058 

3»»»/w 

380,313 

Indiana     .... 

331*240 

25,413 

253 

24,063 

49,729 

28l,5II 

Iowa    

7O7,  C.C.7 

I  C  2TO 

[69 

IQ.Q77 

7C,2C6 

2o8,7OI 

Kansas      .... 

OvyJ  '  J  O  / 

206,080 

A  j  >*  1W 

11,781 

83 

*y*yi  i 

9,274 

OJ*    v 

21,138 

^'y^'t  O 
184,942 

Kentucky 

320*57  * 

30,141 

885 

22,132 

53,158 

267,413 

Louisiana 

205,306 

20,041; 

16,416 

18,572 

55,023 

150,283 

Maine       .... 

82,130 

1,968 

10 

15,499 

^,467 

64,663 

Maryland      .     .     . 

90,927 

5,5io 

256 

8,593 

14,359 

76,568 

Massachusetts  .     . 

64*973 

1,229 

IO 

13*403 

14,642 

50,331 

Michigan 

240,319 

7*185 

76 

22,044 

29*305 

2II,OI4 

Minnesota 

131*535 

3*669 

48 

8,971 

12,688 

118,847 

Mississippi    . 

339*938 

29,300 

15,449 

20,541 

65,290 

274,648 

Missouri  .... 

355*297 

24.043 

255 

22,672 

46,970 

308,327 

Montana  .... 

4»5I5 

51 

2 

97 

150 

4,365 

Nebraska 

90*507 

3>233 

Si 

4*050 

7,365 

83*H2 

Nevada     .... 

4,180 

37 

I 

151 

189 

3,991 

New  Hampshire     . 

44,490 

1,012 

4 

9,  '39 

Jo.  1  55 

34,335 

New  Jersey  .     .     . 

59*214 

1,878 

6 

7,481 

9,365 

49,849 

New  Mexico 

14,139 

926 

9 

986 

1,921 

12,218 

New  York    .     .     . 

377.460 

9,027 

78 

52*534 

61,639 

3i5,72i 

North  Carolina 

360,937 

47,329 

12,227 

28,971 

88,527 

272,410 

Ohio    

7Q7,4.Q  C 

17,7-70 

QO 

40,287 

58,106 

770,780 

Oregon     .... 

Jji  'TiO 
27,091 

•*/  >/-y 
637 

yw 

5 

*f  *-'!*''-'/ 

1,836 

2,478 

jOy^J^f 
24,613 

Pennsylvania     . 

301,112 

16,041 

105 

34*607 

50,753 

250,359 

Rhode  Island    .     . 

10,945 

192 

i 

1,941 

2,134 

8,811 

South  Carolina 

294,602 

27*453 

16,602 

21,683 

55,738 

238,864 

Tennessee 

294>i53 

36,338 

5,728 

21,819 

63,875 

230,278 

Texas  *     .     .     •     • 

7  CO  717 

•7  T     CQ2 

7.4.8? 

17  767 

c6  84.0 

7O2.4.77 

Utah    

ojy'o*  / 

14.  CCO 

o'oy-' 

I   7CI 

/  >TUJ 

17 

*  /  ,  /  u  o 
CO7 

O    ^  I--'T-*-/ 

I.87C 

O'-'^'T/  / 

I2,67< 

Vermont  .... 

*T'JJ" 

55,251 

•''OJ1 

1,670 

*  / 
IO 

3W 
9,055 

i,<J/O 

io,735 

•—  .v/  j 

44,516 

Virginia   .... 

254,099 

22,601 

3,370 

25,132 

5I,I°3 

202,996 

Washington       .     . 

12,781 

225 

5 

555 

785 

H,996 

West  Virginia  . 

107,578 

7*944 

195 

8,767 

16,906 

9O,662 

Wisconsin 

195,901 

6,743 

200 

20,395 

27,338 

168,563 

Wyoming  Territory 

1,639 

19 

- 

40 

59 

1,580 

Totals     .     .     . 

7,670,493 

584,867 

135,862 

625,711 

1,246440 

6,424,053 

PROFESSIONAL. 

RELATIVE    NUMBER    OF   CHILDREN   AND    OLD    PERSONS    ENGAGED. 


STATE. 

TOTAL 
NUMBER 

MALES 

FEMALES 

60  YEARS 

AND 

TOTAL  OF 
NON-PRO- 

TOTAL OF 
PRODUCTIVE 

ENGAGED. 

IO  TO    1(J. 

IO  TO    15. 

OVER. 

DUCTIVE 
AGE. 

AGE. 

Alabama 

72,211 

9>9T3 

4.477 

3,872 

18,262 

53,849 

Arizona    .... 

8,210 

102 

!7 

70 

189 

8,021 

Arkansas 

23,466 

L963 

1,238 

1,476 

4,677 

18,789 

California     .     .     . 

i2i,43S 

1,252 

793 

3'52I 

5,866 

"5,569 

Colorado       .     .     . 
Connecticut       .     . 

24,813 
51,296 

240 

443 

155 

854 

384 

3-I97 

679 
4.294 

24.134 
47,002 

Dakota      .... 

14,016 

107 

164 

J47 

418 

I3.598 

Delaware       .     .     . 

17,616 

610 

629 

1,112 

2,351 

15,265 

Dist.  of  Columbia 

39*975 

288 

544 

1.854 

2,686 

37,289 

Florida     .... 

i7;923 

603 

582 

986 

3,171 

i5,752 

Georgia    .... 

IO4   26Q 

7  208 

51  Tl 

.       -^    . 

_  »_    _      ^ 

Qfi   Q~A 

/'zy° 

i**3 

4'974 

1  7>395 

oO,oy^ 

Idaho        .... 

3,861 

33 

1? 

62 

112 

3,749 

Illinois      .... 

229,467 

4'3io 

5.050 

7.951 

17,3" 

212,156 

Indiana     .... 

137,281 

4.717 

2,954 

4.659 

",330 

i  25,  95  : 

Iowa     

TO7  O"22 

1,667 

•?   TrW 

3T  ^7  f 

*T     f-\tf-<L 

/iA  8/-\7 

1UO'VJ^ 

^,197 

1*75 

7.039 

90,093 

Kansas      .... 

53.507 

996 

1,112 

!.4°5 

3.5*3 

49.994 

Kentucky      .     .     . 

104,239 

4,649 

4.069 

3.7'5 

12,433 

91,806 

Louisiana 

98,111 

3.637 

3.450 

5,286 

I2,373 

85,738 

Maine       .... 

47*4" 

620 

580 

3,I03 

4'3°3 

43,108 

Maryland      .     .     . 

98'934 

2,893 

3.358 

4.425 

10,676 

87,278 

Massachusetts  .     . 

170,160 

1,293 

1,605 

10,866 

13,364 

156,796 

Michigan       .     .     . 

H3.249 

2,160 

2,914 

4,487 

s 

9,56i 

133,688 

Minnesota     .     .     . 

59.452 

775 

L353 

1,322 

3,450 

56,002 

Mississippi    .     .     . 

49,448 

2,688 

1,990 

2,770 

7,448 

42,000 

Missouri  .... 

148,588 

4.302 

3.755 

4,611 

12,968 

135,620 

Montana 

6,954 

40 

22 

56 

118 

6,836 

Nebraska      .     .     . 

28,746 

404 

634 

47° 

1,508 

27,238 

Nevada     .... 

io.373 

53 

38 

J59 

250 

10,123 

New  Hampshire     . 

28,206 

253 

345 

1,804 

2,402 

25,804 

New  Jersey   . 
New  Mexico      .     . 

110,722 
19,042 

1,988 
971 

823 
208 

5.635 
960 

8,446 
2,i39 

102,276 
16,903 

New  York     .     .     . 

537.897 

8,932 

10,254 

24,286 

43,472 

494.425 

North  Carolina 

69,321 

6,757 

5,962 

3.76o 

16,479 

52,842 

Ohio    

2  CO  771 

c  662 

5,220 

IO  2O2 

21,084 

229,287 

Oregon     .... 

•'j%-/'j/  x 
16,645 

0'    "- 

182 

93 

427 

702 

15,943 

Pennsylvania     .     . 

446,713 

15,110 

",569 

21,376 

48,055 

398,658 

Rhode  Island    .     . 

24,657 

241 

212 

1,452 

1,905 

22,752 

South  Carolina 

64,246 

3.704 

3,220 

3.353 

10,277 

53,969 

Tennessee 

94,107 

6,950 

4.125 

4,216 

15,291 

78,816 

Texas  

O7.c6l 

4,612 

9      264. 

3JOJ. 

1  1    77O 

86,191 

Utah    

yj  Owi 
1  1,144. 

T»~" 

6o7 

^,*.VJ^- 

247 

'ty-r 

77.6 

x  *  'O/ 
1,280 

0,864 

Vermont  .... 

.     TT 
28,174 

yt 
406 

^T/ 

875 

JJW 

1.752 

3,033 

yl^^T 

25,141 

Virginia   .... 

146,664 

9'997 

7,898 

8,232 

26,127 

120,537 

Washington 

6,640 

59 

47 

133 

239 

6,401 

West  Virginia   .     . 

31,680 

1,249 

i,  006 

1,444 

3,699 

27,981 

Wisconsin     . 

97.494 

1,706 

2,763 

4,087 

8,556 

88,938 

Wyoming  Territory 

4,011 

33 

25 

30 

88 

3,923 

Totals     .     .     . 

4,074,238 

'27,565 

107,830 

176,692 

412,087 

3,662,151 

TRADE  AND  TRANSPORTATION. 

KKI.ATIVK    NUMBER    OF    CHILDREN    AND    OLD    PERSONS    ENGAGED. 


STATE. 

TOTAL 
NUMBER 

MALES 

FEMALES 

60  YEARS 

AND 

TOTAL  OF 
NON-PRO- 

TOTAL OK 
PRODUCTIVE 

ENGAGED. 

10  TO  15. 

10  TO  15. 

OVER. 

DUCTIVE 
AGE. 

AGE. 

Alabama  .... 

16,953 

378 

II 

665 

1,054 

15,899 

Arizona    .... 

3»252 

5 

- 

21 

26 

3,226 

Arkansas       .     . 

9>233 

81 

I 

203 

285 

8,948 

California 

S7-392 

429 

27 

i,379 

1,835 

55,457 

Colorado  .... 

I5.491 

IOO 

2 

152 

254 

I5,i37 

Connecticut 

29,920 

39i 

70 

i,i54 

1,615 

^8,305 

Dakota     .... 

6,219 

30 

2 

39 

•71 

6,148 

Delaware       .     .     . 

4.967 

59 

2 

255 

316 

4,651 

Dist.  of  Columbia 

9,848 

197 

18 

268 

483 

9,365 

Florida     .... 

6,446 

80 

- 

202 

282 

6,164 

Georgia    .... 

25,222 

4i 

14 

675 

730 

24.492 

Idaho  

1,  327 

15 

22 

I.72C 

Illinois      .... 

,*}    / 
128,372 

i,564 

179 

2,677 

4,420 

'O    J 

123,952 

Indiana     .... 

56,432 

648 

19 

1,639 

2,206 

53,136 

Iowa    

CQ,  872 

•3  TO 

16 

I.IIQ 

1,46? 

4O.J.O7 

Kansas                .     7 

j»->,u/  - 
26,379 

JO" 
I76 

8 

A  ,  A  AV/ 

346 

'T    J 
530 

T^7    Tw/ 

25.749 

Kentucky 

33,563 

499 

18 

988 

1,505 

32,058 

Louisiana 

29,130 

522 

21 

L3I5 

1,858 

27,272 

Maine  

29,790 

179 

12 

1,412 

I,6l3 

28,177 

Maryland 

49,234 

797 

75 

1,578 

2,450 

46,784 

Massachusetts  . 

H5,376 

I.I93 

175 

1,487 

2,855 

112,521 

Michigan      .     .     . 

54.723 

500 

56 

1,466 

2,022 

52,701 

Minnesota     .     .     . 

24.349 

208 

6 

355 

569 

23,78o 

Mississippi    . 

12,975 

154 

2 

366 

522 

12,453 

Missouri  .... 

79.300 

i,i37 

59 

i,343 

2,539 

76,761 

Montana  .... 

2,766 

3 

15 

18 

2,758 

Nebraska 

15,106 

87 

2 

146 

235 

14,871 

4  A  Art 

1  1 

CO 

61 

4  ^88 

New  Hampshire    . 

'tT-y 
11,735 

7i 

7 

y 

521 

599 

*no(J<J 
11,136 

New  Jersey   .     .     . 

66,382 

978 

132 

2,181 

3,29! 

63,091 

New  Mexico 

3.264 

30 

i 

50 

81 

3.103 

New  York    . 

339.419 

6,856 

93r 

10,295 

18,082 

321,337 

North  Carolina 

15,966 

306 

tr 

603 

920 

15,046 

Ohio    

IO4.,7IC 

i,y8<; 

146 

A  Idft 

6  iTJ 

08  018 

Oregon     .... 

*-^"T'J*J 

6,149 

x'f  UO 

52 

it*« 

i 

T»OT** 

126 

'1*1  1 

179 

V/l^jVV^Io' 

5,97° 

Pennsylvania    . 

179.965 

3,418 

386 

6,643 

10,447 

169,518 

Rhode  Island    . 

15,217 

214 

15 

633 

862 

14.255 

South  Carolina     . 

13.556 

183 

8 

441 

632 

12,924 

Tennessee     . 

23,228 

361 

7 

687 

I>°55 

22,173 

Texas  

7.4,  QOQ 

4.6s 

661 

1.  177 

72,776 

Utah     

OT'  y^;/ 
4..I4Q 

T**0 

86 

/ 

1C, 

IOI 

•*'*  JJ 
2O2 

O     '  /  / 

9.04.7 

Vermont  .... 

*t  ,  ATV 

8,945 

80 

*j 
3 

410 

493 

O'VT/ 

8,462 

Virginia  .... 

30,418 

374 

13 

1,06^ 

1,442 

28,976 

Washington 

3,405 

15 

36 

51 

3.354 

West  Virginia   .     . 

10,653 

122 

9 

329 

460 

io,593 

Wisconsin 

37.55° 

463 

60 

i>H5 

1,668 

35,882 

Wyoming  Territory 

1,545 

13 

- 

10 

23 

1,522 

Totals    .     .     . 

1,810,256 

26,078 

2,547 

54.6n 

83,236 

1,727,020 

MANUFACTURES,  MECHANICAL  AND  MINING. 

RELATIVE   NUMBER    OF   CHILDREN   AND    OLD    PERSONS    ENGAGED. 


STATE. 

TOTAL 
NUMBER 
ENGAGED. 

MALES 
10  TO  15. 

FEMALES 
10  TO  15. 

60  YEARS 

AND 

OVER. 

TOTAL  OF 
NON-PRO- 
DUCTIVE 
AGE. 

TOTAL  OF 
PRODUCTIVE 
AGE. 

Alabama  .... 

22,996 
7,374 

773 

q 

394 
7 

1,536 

>je 

2,703 

87 

20,293 

T  287 

Arkansas      .     .     . 
California     .     .     . 
Colorado       .     .     . 
Connecticut       .     . 
Dakota     .... 
Delaware       .     .     . 
Dist.  of  Columbia 
Florida     .... 
Georgia    .... 
Idaho  

",338 
118,282 
47,408 
116,091. 
9,101 
14,148 

15,337 
8,436 
36,167 
6.C72 

J 

621 
140 

3,755 
7 
401 

121 
2OO 

895 
II 

39 

I9i 

3,083 
i 

i73 
32 
50 
659 

529 
3,78l 
523 

4,479 
103 
665 
563 
450 
i,793 
106 

706 

4,495 
671 
",237 
in 
1,239 
716 
700 
3,347 

1  17 

10,632 
"3,787 
46,737 
104,854 
8,990 
12,009 
14,621 
7,736 
32,820 

Illinois      .... 
Indiana     .... 
Iowa     

205,570 

110,127 
60,041 

3,228 
1,850 

62  c 

*>557 
324 
So 

6,394 
4>5H 

2,928 

11,179 

6,688 

7.677 

194,39! 
103,439 

66  308 

Kansas      .... 
Kentucky       .     .     l 
Louisiana      .     .     . 
Maine       .... 
Maryland 
Massachusetts  .     . 
Michigan       .     .     . 
Minnesota     .     .     . 
Mississippi    .     .     . 
Missouri  .... 
Montana  .... 
Nebraska       .     .     . 
Nevada     .... 

36,819 
61,481 
30,681 

72,662 

85,337 
370,265 

130,913 
39,789 
13,145 
109,774 

8,022 
18,255 
13,231 

272 
1,354 
478 
1,320 
1,921 
8,59i 
i,765 
309 
1  88 
2,180 
6 

98 

*9 
415 
154 
1,045 
1,017 

7,272 
433 
97 

121 

694 
I 

13 

3 

1,091 
2,647 
2,109 
3,658 
3,888 

13,973 
4,490 

1,033 
785 
3,3oi 
no 
409 
162 

1,382 
4,416 
2,741 
6,023 
6,826 
29,836 
6,688 

i,439 
1,094 

6,i75 
117 

5H 

17-? 

34,937 
67,065 
27,940 
66,639 
78,5" 
34i,429 
124,225 

38,350 
13,051 
103,599 
7,905 
i7,74r 
11  o\8 

New  Hampshire    . 
New  Jersey  • 
New  'Mexico      .     . 
New  York 
North  Carolina 
Ohio    

58,038 
160,561 

4,377 
629,869 

33,963 

2-12.  2Q4 

i>257 
5>"3 
18 

i3,7i9 
1,231 
6,106 

i,353 
3,377 
34 
10,899 

779 

I.7QC 

2,397 
5,639 
97 

22,856 
2,492 

I  I,OI  I 

5,007 
14,129 
149 

47,474 
4,502 

17  OI2 

53,030 
146,432 
4,228 

582,395 
29,461 

12J.  782 

Oregon     .... 
Pennsylvania    .     . 
Rhode  Island    . 
South  Carolina 
Tennessee     .     .     . 
Texas  ..... 

17,458 
528,277 
66,IOO 
19,698 
36,082 
70,346 

95 
19,326 

2,957 
425 
643 

26C 

4 
6,486 

2,576 
283 
196 

34. 

395 
i9>105 
i,977 
L391 
2,015 

I,O7Q 

494 
44>9J7 
7,5io 
2,099 
2,854 
1,978 

16,964 
483,360 
58,650 

17,599 
33,228 
28,968 

Utah    

IO,2I2 

1^8 

32 

t7S 

728 

9.484 

Vermont  .... 
Virginia   .... 
Washington 
West  Virginia   . 
Wisconsin     .     .     . 
Wyoming  Territory 

26,214 
63,059 
7,296 
26,288 
86,510 
1,689 

442 
1,769 

38 

527 
1,328 

2 

166 

577 

32 
425 

1,  680 

3,943 
142 

1,231 
3,504 
16 

2,288 
6,289 
182 
1,790 

5,357 
18 

23,926 
56,770 

7>"4 
24,498 

80,953 
1,671 

Totals     .     .     . 

3,837,"2 

86,677 

46,930 

147,503 

281,110 

3,556,002 

GRAND  TOTALS  FOR  UNITED   STATES. 


TOTAL 
NUMBER 
ENGAGED, 

MALES 

10  TO    1J. 

FEMALES 
10  TO  15. 

60  YEARS 

AND 

OVER. 

TOTAL  OF 
NON-PRO- 
DUCTIVE 
AGE. 

TOTAL  OK 
PRODUCTIVE 
AGE. 

Agriculture  .     .     . 

7,670,493 

584,867 

135,862 

625,711 

1  .246,440 

6.424,053 

Professional       .     . 

4,074,238 

127,565 

107,830 

176,692 

412,087 

3,662,151 

Trades  and  Trans- 

portation   . 

1,810,256 

26,078 

2,547 

54>6ii 

83,236 

1,727,020 

Manufactures,  Me- 

chanical    and 

Mining  . 

3,837,"2 

86,677 

46,930 

H7,503 

281,110 

3,556,002 

Grand  Totals     .     . 

17,392,099 

825,187 

293,169 

1x304,517 

2^22,873 

15,369,226 

INDEX. 


Adams,  Samuel,  70. 

Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and 
Steel-workers  of  the  U.  S.,  268,  281. 

Arthur,  Peter  M.,  chosen  Grand  Chief 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engi- 
neers, 322  ;  see  also  biographical  ap- 
pendix, 605. 

Associated  Brotherhood  of  Iron  and 
Steel  Nail-heaters,  277. 

Axe-makers,  unions  of,  364. 

American  Miners'  Association,  246. 

Arbitration,  State  laws  relating  to,  179; 
chapter  by  Congressman  O'Neill,  497. 

Alleghany,  mass  meeting  at,  103. 

Awl  (newspaper),  96. 

Advocate,  Workingmen's,  98. 

Artisan,  New  England  (newspaper), 
78. 

Anglo-Saxons,  laborers  among,  5. 

Agriculture,  see  tables. 

Apprentices,  law  abolished  in  Eng- 
land (1814),  43. 

Bailey,  Wm.  H. ;  see  biographical  ap- 
pendix, 605  ;  connection  with  miners, 
362. 

Bakers,  National  Union  of  Journey- 
men, 366. 

Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  elected  to  legis- 
lature, 1 20. 

Barbers,  unions  of,  373. 

Barry,  Thomas  B.,  361;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  605. 

Bell,  Old  Mechanics',  345. 

Bishop,  Joseph,  285. 

Blacksmiths'  Union,   122;  in  Canada, 

587. 

Boiler-makers,  369. 

Brakemen,  Brotherhood  of  R.  R.,  326. 
Brick-layers  and  Masons'  International 

Union,  370,  in  Canada,  587. 


Brockton  strike  (1885),  209, 

Brook  Farm,  91. 

Brotherhood  of  the  Union,  399. 

Building  Trades,  331 ;  New  York  strike, 

H3- 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  elected  to  legis- 
lature, 1 20. 

Boston    Tailors'    Associative    Union, 

5i7- 

Bessemer  process,  308. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  R.  R.  strike,  312. 

Brentano,  labors  of,  2. 

Baltimore,  trades-unions  of,  87, 

Bee,  Weekly,  98. 

Blue,  Archibald,  594. 

Chinese  and  the  labor  question,  429. 

Cigar-makers'  International  Union,  po- 
sition and  development  of  the  move- 
ment, 127;  for  full  history,  see  ap- 
pendix, 585-604. 

Claflin,  William,  120. 

Cluer,  John  C.,  105,  115. 

Coal-miners'  unions,  241. 

Columbia  Charitable  Association,  71. 

Community  life,  72- 

Congress,  First  Industrial,  104;  Second 
Industrial,  109 ;  National  Labor,  135, 

136,  137- 

Conway,  M.  F.,  adddress  of,  184. 

Conductors,  Order  of  Railway,  329. 

Conspiracy  case,  Journeymen  Boot- 
makers of  Boston,92 ;  Thompsonville, 
Conn.,  case,  82;  New  York  tailor's 
fine,  84. 

Cook,  William,  one  of  the  Founders 
of  Knights  of  Labor,  398 ;  see  also 
biographical  appendix,  606. 

Co-operation,  history  of,  in  United 
States,  508;  Origin  in  United  States, 
99;  in  Europe,  59. 


(639) 


INDEX. 


Crispin  Movement,  196;  Organized  at 

Milwaukee,  135. 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  79. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  65. 
Carpenters'  and  Joiners'  Amalgamated 

Society,  354 ;  Brotherhood  of,  355. 
Channing,  William  H.,  91. 
Charlemagne,  labor-laws  of,  24. 
Christian  Labor  Union,  of  Boston,  146, 

149. 
Children,  labor  laws  relating  to,  173- 

175- 

Cleanliness  and  safety  of  shops,  177. 

Clay,  Cassius  M.,  105. 

Cabotsville  Chronicle,  99. 

Chronotype,  99. 

Commercial,  Daily,  98. 

Central  labor  unions,  the  parent  as- 
sembly, 83. 

Charitable  Mechanics'  Association,  of 
Boston,  85. 

Carpenters,  notable  resolutions  of 
(1835),  85. 

Cordwainers'  Society,  86. 

Convict  labor,  protest  at  Utica,N.Y.,  82. 

Child  labor,  hours  of,  52;  in  France, 
Russia,  Switzerland,  55 ;  in  Ger- 
many, 56. 

•California,  labor  movement  in,  596. 

Colorado,  labor  movement  in,  599. 

Canada,  labor  movement  in,  585. 

Daley,  Edward  L.,  205;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  606. 

Dana,  Charles  A.,  91. 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  334. 

Dyer,  Josiah  B.,  380;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  607. 

Drawing  in  public  schools,  534. 

Daggs,  founder  of  shoe  business  at 
Lynn  (1634),  193. 

Eight-hour  movement,  first  impetus 
during  the  war,  124;  Grand  Eight- 
hour  League,  125;  resolutions  in 
Congress,  130;  Boston  League  or- 
ganized, 139. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  poor- 
law  of,  15. 

Engineers'  Amalgamated  Association, 

373- 


Europe,  uprising  of  Labor  in,  114. 

Equal-Rights  Advocate,  99. 

Eagle,  Ohio  (newspaper),  98. 

Earnings  of  labor,  see  tables. 

Ellsworth's  Zouaves,  588. 

Fall  River  strikes,  215;  convention, 
221. 

Farmers',  Mechanics'  and  Working- 
men's  New  England  Association,  79. 

Federation  of  organized  trades  and 
labor  unions  of  the  U.  S.  and 
Canada,  169. 

Female  Labor  Reform  Association  of 
Lowell,  104. 

Firemen,  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive, 

324- 

Foot-board,  Brotherhood  of,  315. 
Ford,  Ebenezer,  75. 
Foster,  Frank  K.,  report  of,  169;  see 

also  biographical  appendix,  607, 
Furniture  -  workers,         International 

Union  of,  376. 
Factory  laws  in  England,  49. 
Factory  Girls'  Friend,  98. 
Factory  strike,  a  typical,  119. 
Fire  escapes,  laws  regulating,  175. 
Garment-cutters'    Association,    organ- 
ized, 125. 
Glass-blowers,        organizations        and 

strikes,    362 ;    Improved    Druggists' 

Ware,  League  of,  374. 
Granite  Cutters'  National  Union,  379. 
Grant,  President,  proclamation  of,  131. 
Greeley,  Horace,  91 ;    defines  slavery, 

108;  lecture  to  printers,  117. 
Guilds  of  crafts,  early  beginnings  of,  27. 
Greece,  labor  conditions  in,  3. 
Glass-blowers'  organizations,  362. 
Granger  movement,  514. 
Hat-finishers,  388;  wool-hat  finishers, 

393- 

Henry  Third  of  France,  attitude  to- 
ward guilds  of,  40. 

Hintchcliff,  John,  247. 

Hilsee,  J.  M.,  one  of  the  Founders  of 
Knights  of  Labor;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  607. 

Hoar,  E.  Rockwood,  decision  of,  132. 

Holyoake,  George  Jacobs,  73. 


INDEX. 


Horse-car  Drivers,  Benevolent  Assd- 
ciation  of,  127. 

Horse  Railroad  men,  383. 

Humphries,  Miles  S.,  272. 

High  Schools  of  industrial  art,  555. 

Horse-shoers'  unions,  363. 

Humphreys,  Miles  S. ,  head  of  iron 
workers,  272. 

Hours  of  labor  in  England,  50. 

Harbinger  (newspaper),  98. 

Hocking  Valley  strike,  261. 

Iron  and  Steel  Roll  Hands' Union,  279. 

Iron-moulders'  Union,  363. 

Iron-workers,  Association  of,  268. 

International  Workingmen's  Associa- 
tion, 141. 

Iron-workers,  early  organizations  and 
strikes,  269;  strikes  and  lockouts, 
307- 

Iron-moulders,  363. 

Jarrett,  John,  285. 

Johnson,  Governor  of  Penn.,  270. 

Jones,  Rev.  Jesse  H.,  connection  with 
Christian  Labor  Union,  146. 

Jones,  Thomas  P.,  278. 

Jones,  D.  R.,  and  the  coal-miners,  252. 

Keen,  Robert  W.,  one  of  the  Founders 
of  the  K.  of  L.,  398;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  609. 

Kennedy,  Joseph  S.,  one  of  the  Found- 
ers of  the  K.  of  L. ;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  609. 

Knights  of  Labor,  history  of,  397; 
founders  of,  398 ;  strikes  of,  425 ; 
declaration  of  principles  of,  for  1883; 
in  Canada,  594. 

Kindergarten  schools,  532. 

Kirtland,  Philip,  193. 

Lasters'  Protective  Union,  203. 

Legislation,  recent  labor  in  Europe, 
45 ;  sketch  of  the  United  States,  172. 

Lien  law,  agitation  for,  75. 

Locomotive  Engineers,  formation  of 
Brotherhood  of,  319. 

Ludlow,  J.  M. ,  64. 

Lloyd,  Thomas,  247. 

Legal  hours  of  labor,  174. 

Laborers'  Union  Association,  103. 

Literature  of  labor  (1838-51),  96. 


Literary  institutes  formed  by  working- 
men,  90. 

Labor  unions,  efforts  at  consolidation 
of  early,  82. 

Liability  of  employers,  German  Federal 
law  of,  58. 

Labor  laws  of  Canada,  593. 

Macauley,  Robert  C.,  one  of  the  Found- 
ers of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  398; 
see  also  biographical  appendix,  610. 

Machinists'  and  Blacksmiths'  Union, 
122. 

Magoun,  Thatcher,  relations  to  ship- 
builders, 333. 

Massillon  Miners'  Association,  248. 

McKay,  Gordon,  inventor  of  stitching 
machines,  195. 

McLaughlin,  Hugh,  276. 

McNeill,  George  E.,  speech  at  Fall 
River,  226;  President  International 
Labor  Union  of  America,  231;  ora- 
tor of  the  day  at  Chicago,  163 ;  see 
also  biographical  appendix,  611. 

Mechanical  labor,  history  of,  21. 

Miners,  American  Association  of,  247. 

Miscellaneous  trades,  361. 

Morrow,  W.  W.,  on  restraint  of  Chinese 
immigration,  442. 

Manufactures,  mechanical  and  mining, 
see  tables. 

Museums,  industrial,  557. 

Middlesex  Co-operative  Shoe  Co.,  520. 

Modeling  as  related  to  industrial  art, 

535- 

Metal-Avorkers'  national  unions,  363. 

Mechanics'  Bell,  345. 

Mechanics'  Mirror,  99. 

Mechanic,  New  England  (newspaper), 
101. 

Massachusetts  Labor  Bureau,  report 
of,  142. 

McDonnell,  J.  P.,  a  martyr  to  the 
cause,  164. 

Miners,  laws  for  protection  of,  178. 

Miners,  first  organization  of  coal,  243. 

Miners'  and  Laborers'  Benevolent  As- 
sociation, 249. 

Miners'  National  Record,  250. 

Miners  and  the  K.  of  L.,  251. 


INDEX. 


Molly  Maguires,  264. 

Montreal,  Parliament  House,  585. 

MacLean,  Roger  &  Co.,  Parliamentary 
printers,  589. 

New  London  Convention  (1831),  77. 

New  prleans,  Central  Trades  and 
Labor  Assembly  of,  167. 

Newspapers,  first  labor,  77. 

New  England  Workingmen's  conven- 
tion, 106. 

Northern  Star  (newspaper),  no. 

Norman  Conquest,  effect  on  laborer 
of,  7. 

National  Teachers'  Association,  533. 

Ottawa,  workingmen  of,  590. 

O'Donoghue,  D.  J.,  592. 

Oliver,  Gen.  H.  K.,  report  on  factory 
children,  129;  chief  of  Mass.  Bureau 
Labor  Statistics,  137. 

Owen,  Robert  Dale,  72,  77. 

Painters'  unions,  386. 

Phelps,  Elizabeth  Stuart,  description 
of  Pemberton  Mills  disaster,  122. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  113. 

Plasterers,  organizations  of,  363. 

Plumbers,  organizations  of,  363. 

Provincial  legislatures,  589. 

Patrons  of  husbandry,  601. 

Professions,  see  table. 

Piano-makers,  363. 

People's  Press,  99. 

Pittsburg  mass  meeting,  103. 

Pinkerton's  detectives,  264. 

Plymouth,  starting-point  of  labor 
movement,  67. 

Powderly,  T.  V.,  elected  Grand  Master 
Workman,  409;  addresses  of,  411, 
412,  413,  4i5>  419 ;  see  also  biographi- 
cal appendix,  613. 

Printers  and  their  unions,  183. 

Philadelphia  rules,  211. 

Parochial  settlement,  law  of,  17. 

People's  Journal,  99. 

Parliament,  Dominion,  595. 

Quebec,  Province  of,  585. 

Quincy  Building  and  Homestead  As- 
sociation, 517- 

Railroad  organizations,  312;  strikes  of 
1857,  155- 


Rantoul,  Robert,  defense  of  journey- 
men boot-makers  arraigned  for  con- 
spiracy, 92. 

Rogers,  Edward  H.,  69,  128. 

Robinson,  W.  D.,  first  Grand  Chief 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engi- 
neers, 314. 

Rebellion,  war  of,  effect  on  labor,  124. 

Rogers,  Thorold,  2. 

Rome,  labor  conditions  in,  2. 

Schilling,  Robert,  address  of,  to  Labor 
Congress,  150. 

Shaw,  Chief-Justice,  decision  in  con- 
spiracy case,  94. 

Ship-builders,  331. 

Shipwrights'  and  Calkers' Association, 

79- 

Shoemakers  in  the  movement,  192. 

Siney,  John,  organizing  coal-miners, 
241. 

Skeffington,  Henry  J. ;  see  biographi- 
cal appendix,  613. 

Slack,  Charles  W.,  78. 

Smith,  Adam,  ideas  on  labor,  43. 

Smith,  Gerritt,  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency, 166. 

Socialism,  birth  of  American,  91 ;  in 
America,  602. 

Sons  of  Vulcan,  268,  271. 

Spinners'  unions,  225.  . 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady,  admitted  to 
Labor  Congress,  138. 

Stephens,  Uriah  S.,  addresses  of,  402, 
406,  408;  farewell  speech  of,  409; 
see  also  biographical  appendix,  613. 

Stereotypers,  Association  of,  389. 

Stetson,  John,  ship-builder,  348. 

Steward,  Ira,  resolution  of,  143,  144. 

Stone,  W.  W. ,  on  Chinese  labor,  332. 

Strikes,  first  in  America,  71;  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  Canal  employees,  74; 
in  Philadelphia  for  10  hours,  86;  of 
'longshoremen  of  N.  Y.,  87;  Ames- 
bury  and  Salisbury,  Mass.,  mill  op- 
eratives, 118;  great  demonstration  in 
N.  Y.  (1862),  143 ;  great  R.  R.  strikes, 
155;  general  prevalence  of  (1866), 
107 ;  at  Fall  River,  and  other  mill- 
towns,  see  chapter  on  Textile  Trades ; 


INDEX. 


in  iron  industries,  106;  locomotive 
engineers  in  Canada,  593. 

Supreme  Mechanical  Order  of  the  Sun, 
125. 

Swinton,  John,  appeal  to  legislature  of 
N.  Y.,  148. 

Switchmen,  Association  of,  328. 

Sewing  in  schools,  535. 

Sciences  in  industrial  education,  536. 

Sovereigns  of  Industry,  515. 

Schoenberg,  labors  of,  2. 

Spirit  of  the  Age  (newspaper),  98. 

Spirit  of  Liberty,  99. 

Shoemakers  and  the  K.  of  L.,  196. 

Tailors,  early  unions  of,  71 ;  Journey- 
men National  Union,  389;  Ten-hour 
agitation  of,  79;  Pittsburgh  meeting, 
103. 

Telegraphers'  National  Union,  390. 

Textile  Trades,  214. 

Trevellick,  Richard,  delegate  to  Eu- 
rope, 136,  341 ;  see  also  biographical 
appendix,  614. 

Typographical    Union,    International, 

183. 

Tribune,  N.  Y.,  98-112. 
Tribune,  Chicago,  136. 
Trades-unions,     development     of     in 
European  Countries,  61 ;  in  Canada, 

59i- 
Ten-hour  movement,  by  ship-builders 

and    calkers,  74;  strikes  to    enforce, 

So;     granted     on     ship     work,    84; 

enacted  into  law  in  some  States,  115. 
Truck  system  of  paying  wages,   laws 

regulating,  49. 


Tariff  commission,  392. 

Third  Avenue  strike  of  1885,  384. 

Teapot  Society,  401. 

Troy  Co-operative  Stone  Workers,  517. 

Trade  Schools,  543. 

Trade  and  Transportation  ;  see  tables. 

United  Nailers,  281. 

Voice,  Daily  Evening,  127. 

Villages,  Amesbury,  119. 

Voice  of  Industry  (newspaper),  96. 

Warren,  Josiah,  73  ;  scheme  of  money ; 
see  illustration  and  appendix. 

Weaver,  Daniel,  address  to  coal- 
miners,  244. 

Weihe,  William,  295;  see  also  bio- 
graphical appendix,  614. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  97. 

Wilson,  Henry,  elected  to  legislature, 
1 20. 

Winthrop,  Gov.  of  Mass.,  attitude  to. 
wards  trades  of,  332. 

Wood-carvers'  Association,  392. 

Workingmen's  Association,  New  Eng- 
land, 99. 

Wright,  Elizur,  115. 

Wright,  Frances,  76. 

Wright,  James  L.,  one  of  the  Founders 
of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  398;  see 
also  biographical  appendix,  615. 

Window-glass  blowers,  362. 

Workingmen's  ticket  (1838),  75. 

Weekly  payments,  233. 

Young  American,  99. 

Yankee  girls  in  cotton  mills,  74,  88, 
105. 


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